Shaggy Biography

On October 22, 1968, in Kingston, Jamaica, Orville Richard Burrell gave birth to Shaggy, who was given the Scooby-Doo character's moniker. At 18, he moved home with his mother in Brooklyn, New York's Flatbush district, and soon after began playing music with the local Gibraltar Musik ensemble, which had a Jamaican flavor. Nevertheless, Shaggy joined the Marines in 1988 since having a steady income proved to be an even more difficult problem. When he had free time while stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, he continued to pursue music and regularly traveled back to New York for recording sessions. At the age of 20, he recorded his debut song Man a Mi Yard b/w Bullet Proof Buddy for the maker Don One's small moniker; he collaborated with producer Lloyd Spiderman Campbell to develop Big Hood b/w Duppy or Uglyman. In any event, Shaggy's most important connection turned out to be with radio DJ/studio engineer Sting (born Shaun Pizzonia), who landed him a job doing dubplates at Phillip Smart's studio. One of those songs, Mampie, became a massive hit with New York reggae fans; its follow-up, Big Up, was even more well-known locally and included the first of a few two-part harmonies with Brooklyn singer Rayvon. However, despite all this, Shaggy had military obligations, and Operation Desert Storm in 1991 prevented him from developing his career. He was ordered to Kuwait for a five-month deployment. Shaggy resumed his meetings in New York after returning to Camp Lejeune, where he recorded a version of the Folkes Brothers' ska song Oh Carolina. The music was created for Prince Buster's brand and given a sophisticated dancehall makeover with a pronounced Peter Gunn test. Carolina was initially just another local success, but thanks to some outside promotion, Greensleeves acquired it for release in the U.K. in late 1992. It was a moment that crushed, rocketing to the top of the British pop charts in the first few months of the following year and doing the same in a few other European countries.

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