In a recent interview with UK’s Daily Star newspaper, Grammy-winning reggae artiste Shaggy revealed that he turned down an opportunity to be part of Rihanna’s pending reggae album.
In an article published by the international press on Tuesday, Shaggy said that he was approached by Rihanna’s team but opted out to let ‘younger’ folk audition.
“They approached me for the Rihanna project, yeah. There’s a lot of great people involved, but for me, I didn’t need to audition to be on the record, I’ll leave that to younger guys. But from what I hear it should be good,” Shaggy is quoted as saying.
Based on the interview, Shaggy seemed to not have gone into any further details about the potential Rihanna collaboration.
The article also did not state when the singer was approached and how far advanced discussions were before he opted out.
The article did, however, highlight Shaggy’s openness to Rihanna delving into dancehall and reggae music.
Debates have surfaced in recent times about international artistes adopting the Jamaican culture, particularly its music, and ‘watering it down’ to suit their taste and that of their fans.
GOOD FOR THE GENRE
But, according to the article, Shaggy believes Rihanna and other international superstars opting to create reggae and dancehall music is good for the genre.
“It’s healthy competition. Dancehall is in good place but we need as many people to do this art form as possible. When it crosses over and becomes popular with artistes from other genres and other cultures, that can only be good,” he said.
Rihanna’s reggae/dancehall album was set to be released last year. But when the year came to an end and the album, dubbed R9, did not materialise, fans of the Bajan singer were immensely disappointed.
It appears, however, that despite its missed release period, the album may be complete.
In an Instagram post just before 2019 ended, some nearly two weeks ago, Rihanna posted a video of a dancing mouse with the attached caption ‘Me listening to R9 by myself and refusing to release it.’
Although Shaggy won’t feature on the album, it is highly possible fast-rising reggae sensation Koffee will make an appearance on R9, if even as a writer.
In an interview with BET back in November, it was revealed that Koffee may be writing for the project.
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