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Shaggy is mostly known for his hit singles "Boombastic", "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel". It's said he got his idea for his stage name from the look of his hair.
He was born in Jamaica, but at the age of 18 he moved to Booklyn, New York with his family, which is where he began taking singing courses.
He originally enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and throughout his time in the military service he carried on singing, which he decided to officially pursue in 1993.
In the year 2000, he released the album "Hot Shot", which included the single "It Wasn't Me". Shaggy actually went on to remake the Scooby-Doo theme tune and titled it "Shaggy, Where Are You?".
In 2007 he performed at the ICC Cricket World Cup and sung "The Game of Love and Unity" next to the likes of Bajan and Rupee.
In 2008 he had completed a six date arena tour with Natalia, a belgian singer. The following year he performed at the closing ceremony of the 2009 IPL tournament in South Africa.
In January 2010 he released "Rise Again", which collaborated with Sean Paul and other artists. And in 2012 he confirmed that he was working on a new album.
Born on 29 May, 1985, Shwayze has achieved enormous success in the music industry, making quite a name for himself.
Shwayze, Aaron Smith at the time, came from a poor background. He lived in a trailer park during adolescence and juggled several jobs. His introduction in to the music industry was unusual to say the least. He was discovered during a Whitestarr performance in a nightclub, when he jumped on to the stage and started freestyle rapping. The unexpected move landed him a deal with Suretone records, as Whitestarr frontman Cisco Adler was so impressed with him. Adler and Smith soon formed the duo Shwayze, meaning ‘not white’ (Smith identified himself in an interview as the only non-white kid in Malibu).
After recording several tracks together, the duo was signed to the label Geffen. Adler helped with the song writing, production and back-up vocals for Smith. The self-titled album, Shwayze, was released as the result of the collaboration and the first single off the album, ‘Buzzin’ became an instant hit. It was released on 19 August 2008 and was the start of Shwayze’s rise to success. His second single, ‘Corona and Lime’ peaked even higher on the Billboard Charts, topping the success of the first single.
Some of Shwayze’s musical influences include A Tribe Called Quest, Crazy Town and Atmosphere. Smith himself admitted that he grew up wishing to be like Snoop Dog. Shwayze’s musical style is unusual in that, despite sounding relatively mellow and pleasant, his lyrics revolve around the stereotypical rap content of women, drugs and heavy partying. Since his start, stint as a duo and decision to keep the name Shwayze as referring solely to himself rather than to both himself and Adler, Shwayze has released an impressive handful of studio albums and has come to be known as the quintessential Southern Californian rapper.
Starting out with reggae beat Shaggy explosively questions “are you ready” to the audience before beginning his set. The reggae beats add a bit of funk to his Jamaican flare. His unhurried verses are backed by lilting female voices and remind me of African Savannah music as well as Caribbean party music.
His seamless blending of the styles almost as impressive as his studio quality vocals. Dancing simply around the stage he goes between softer vocals and frenzied, guttural, reggae vocals. He shouts “reggae people” to the audience over and over to get them more involved.
As they increase in volume so does he until the entire venue is filled with his noise and the noises of appreciation. Still performing “Angel” and “Mr. Boombastic” years later Shaggy moves through the songs with a smooth understanding. His throaty vocals scrape at the song and I wonder if he has always been this proficient in his live performances.
For over an hour and a half he leads us through a mix of his new songs, old songs, and improvised sounds. The only constant is his calls for “reggae people” to make more noise reminding us of his genre and his connection to the genre. Ending with “It Wasn't Me” Shaggy seems to come full circle on himself and its easy to imagine I am at a concert of his in the 90's.
Aaron Smith is the real name of the artist known as Shwayze, a cutting edge American rapper who released his debut album in 2008. My favorite song by him is “Corona and Lime” which I purchased right when it came out.
This song shows that this guy is not your typical rapper. He puts together rhymes like no one else can. He is almost grunge in his style and harmonizes with his band in a way like no other.
His songs are catching and once you hear a song it will play in your head for hours. He dresses with a casual sporty style and you will usually see his hat on crooked.
He is a rapper that really knows how to rock the house and he is very good at getting the audience pumped up. In the live show that I saw the audience was packed in like sardines. He spent some time talking to the audience and touching hands with those in the front row. Then he broke into a rendition of “Corona and Lime”. Since this is his most well-known song the audience broke into cheers and started singing along with him.
This was one of the best shows I have seen in years!
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