The Making of Shaggy’s ‘It Wasn’t Me” Hit Song

“Who doesn’t want to bang on the bathroom floor, especially with the girl next door!”

We find the above line of thinking in arguably one of the world’s most famous songs, a song that cuts across generations and brings unity in places where divisions exist.

I am talking about the song “It wasn’t me” by Shaggy

Let me tell you the story behind the song..

See, just before the turn of the millennium, Shaggy recorded the album “Hot Shot”. He had secured a recording deal with MCA, and the music industry knew it was a last chance for him. If the album flopped, Shaggy was going to be dropped.

According to a YouTube short documentary by Vice that discusses the making of the song, Shaggy teamed up with producer and DJ, Shaun “Sting International” Pizzonia, to produce the songs on the album. Shaggy took a big gamble. He reached out to an uknown, young aspiring songwriter, Riccardo “Rikrok’ to help out.

So one day Sting gave Shaggy some beats to work with. Shaggy then met Rikrok for a writing session and they happened to watch Eddie Murphy’s 1987 comedy special Raw where he talks about “it wasn’t me,” a skit about infidelity and relationships. Shaggy turned to Rikrok and said:

“why don’t we just write that..”

The next challenge was giving the song radio-friendly lyrics. And they found the perfect lines, sang as a conversation between two guys:

“To be a true player you got to know how to play; never admit to word when she say; and if she claims it’s you tell her “baby no way””

Sting listened to the song and was impressed. He however, asked Shaggy to also accommodate the ladies.

Sting says:

“The girls were not just going to dig that. You got to apologize a little bit, even if you don’t mean it. The song has to say something to balance it out. We have to find something to sing back for the girls.”

Rikrok went to work, and these lines were birthed:

“Gonna tell her that I am sorry for the pain that I have caused, I have been listening to your reasoning, it makes no sense at all….you may think you are a player, but you are completely lost….”

There was a problem ahead: The executives at MCA dismissed all the songs as unmarketable as singles.

Isitoshe,

Shaggy’s mentor and manager, Robert Livingston declared the song “It wasn’t me” the worst, heck useless song he had ever listened to and wanted it yanked from the album.

Good things happen to those who keep the faith, and at times there are angels that are sent our way that one can’t even fathom. There was one Senior Director at MCA who by happenstance, and while high on weed, listened to It Wasnt Me song. He wasn’t even supposed to have heard the song. He was impressed and asked Sting to finish working on the song and add it to the final cut. The other MCA executives were livid at the song’s inclusion as they had printed the sleeves for the album without listing the song.

The album, Hot Shot, was released

Upon release; Hot Shot album was not selling. The end had come for Shaggy’s career because no other label would have taken a chance on him, a reggae artist.

What made Shaggy’s heart bleed is the fact that MCA made NO attempt to promote the album. There were no flyers, posters or radio interviews.

Shaggy sank into depression.

To survive in America, Shaggy planned a tour across American cities. He was however, performing to small crowds of 200 or less. Disaster

Then lightning struck!

In Hawaii, DJ Pablo Sato at HOT 93.9 (KIKI) in Honolulu had tried to get a promo copy of Hot Shot from MCA but was given the middle finger.

Luckily, Pablo stumbled on the song on illegal download website called Napster. He went ahead to download it and played it on the radio. The song became an instant hit with his listeners, so much so he had to play it back to back. Soon the craze spread to other US cities.

Remember at this time Shaggy was touring American cities to popularize his Album. At their next stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, they perfomed to a sold out venue, we are talking about thousands of fans, and the only song they perfomed the entire night was: “ It Wasn’t Me!”

Hot Shot went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. It went #1 in The US, UK, Germany and Canada. It Wasn’t Me topped 5 million copies in global sales and was a worldwide #1 hit on all sides of the Atlantic!

Don’t ever stop. Keep going. Just have faith in yourself. It is only dark before dawn