Having conquered dancehall and pop, Shaggy goes all-out soca with ‘In the Mood’, a seven-song EP released by VP Records on May 12. On it, he teams with Trinidadian stars Kes, Patrice Roberts and Bunji Garlin as well as Skinny Fabulous from St. Vincent And The Grenadines.
The double Grammy winner also collaborates with fellow dancehall artistes Konshens and Future Fambo.
“Each song dictates the person because when we were writing the songs it felt like Kes, because Kes has a different kinda soca which is a more melodic kinda soca, and then yuh have Skinny Fabulous, him is like a dancehall kinda soca. When he did ‘Don’t Run (a song from In the Mood)’, mi sey dis come in like when yuh a whine pon di street behind di truck, ‘cause he embodies dat,” said Shaggy.
Known for monster hits such as ‘Boombastic’, ‘It Wasn’t Me’ and ‘In the Summertime’, Shaggy has a strong track record with soca that goes back to 1998 when he teamed with Trinidadian singer Machel Montano on ‘Toro Toro’, which was a hit in Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean.
‘Mood’, with Kes, is the lead single from ‘In the Mood’. ‘Whine & Jumping’ is done with Patrice Roberts whose husband Bunji Garlin features on ‘While Talented’. On ‘Buddy Bye’, Shaggy works with Konshens and fellow Jamaican Noah Powa. The latter shares the mic with him and Future Fambo on ‘Liquor Buss’.
