<

Shaggy: A Lotta Lova for Manila

Reggae royalty Shaggy, alternately known as Mr. Boombastic and Mr. Lover Lover (pronounced as lo-va), snuckย into Manila for a one-night gig on September 6, dubbed as โ€˜Up Close and Personalโ€™ at Chaos Night Club at City of Dreams. It was a really intimate affair with a lot of room to dance around and get even closer to the stage to see Mr. Boombasticโ€™s moves.

Shaggy1

Shaggy posted this photo with the caption, “Thank you Manila until next time!! Blessings!!”, on his official Facebook page a few hours after his concert at Chaos Night Club, City of Dreams

Shaggy, Orville Richard Burrel in real life, opened his Up Close and Personal concert with a string of his big hitsโ€˜Mr. Boombasticโ€™, โ€˜Hey Sexy Ladyโ€™, โ€˜Angelโ€™ and โ€˜Strength of a Womanโ€™, much to the delight of the crowd. Interestingly, a number of millennials were seen having a good time on the dance floor. They may not have been that familiar with Shaggyโ€™s early hits, though, since they could notย really sing along toย the lyrics, but they were high on the reggae mood, even more so when Shaggy sang โ€˜It Wasnโ€™t Meโ€™ with Rayvon.

Duringย one part of the show, Shaggy (who was born in Kingston, Jamaica) asked the crowd to sing โ€˜Love Mi Jamaica’, along with him as he shows support to his home countryโ€™s football teamโ€™s World Cup-qualifying game against Nicaragua over the weekend. He and his back-up singersโ€“Rayvon, Samira and Andre โ€˜GCโ€™ Fennelโ€”performed while waving bandannas printed with Jamaican flag.

Sinceย he was in Manila, Shaggy also included some parts of Francis Magalonaโ€™s โ€˜Mga Kababayan Koโ€™ in one of the tracks he performed. He initially teased the crowd with the intro of Beyonceโ€™s โ€˜New Yorkโ€™, then switched to Francis Mโ€™s rap, because as he saidโ€”he is in Manila, not New York. Shaggy and his band performed in Guam prior to the Manila gig.Shaggy4

Mr. Lover Lover turns up the heat on stage with his gorgeous back-up singer, Samira

Shaggy became hugely popular in the 1990s. His first hit was โ€œOh Carolina,โ€ a remake of a ska hit by the Folkes Brothers, which was in the soundtrack of the movie Sliver. Then came the monster hit โ€œBoombasticโ€ in 1995 that became even more popular when it was used by Leviโ€™s as the tune for its commercial. His Boombastic album sold more than one million copies and earned for Shaggy the trophy for the Best Reggae Album in the 1996 Grammy Awards.

In 2000, Shaggy released the album Hot Shot, which was a certified Six-Time Platinum album in the United States. The popular singles โ€œIt Wasnโ€™t Me and โ€œAngelโ€ were included in the album that hit the No. 1 spot on both the Billboard 200 and U.K. albums charts.

Shaggy6

Shaggy also performed โ€˜I Need Your Loveโ€™, a track from his latest album โ€˜Out of Many, One Musicโ€™. He describes it as a feel-good song with a Spanish, Middle Easter and Caribbean element. The YouTube video of the said singleโ€”a collaboration with producer Costi and featuring Mohombi and Australian singer Faydeeโ€”has hit over 18 million views since its release.

Up Close and Personal with Shaggy is a Steven Browstein Production, which is the same outfit behind American Idol finalist Jessica Sanchezโ€™ Up Close and Personal concert.

Five Fast Facts About Shaggy:

1. He served in the Gulf War as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps.
2. He has a charity organization. Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation raises money for the only full-service childrenโ€™s hospital in the Caribbean, the Bustamante Hospital for Children.
3. He was called Shaggy because of his shaggy hair and dubbed Mr. Boombastic because of his unique, boomingโ€ฆwell, boombastic voice.
4. He is in the liquor business. He partnered with the creator of Jagermeister to come up with โ€˜Coco Yakโ€™ or coconut cognac.
5. He is currently working on his 13th record album. He joined the music industry in 1993.

Chaos, City of Dreams

https://www.facebook.com/CHAOS-Nightclub-at-City-of-Dreams-Manila-807493066016317/timeline/