Legendary Shaggy turned down the chance to work with Bajan pop star Rihanna on her latest album R9. The highly anticipated album was slated for release for December 2019 but unfortunately we still await. Shaggy is not one who is shy to work with huge icons in the industry after recently working with stars like Maxi Priest and Sting. So it is disappointing for Riri fans that he turned down the chance to work with her. The pair have worked together before when they performed at Sting’s 80s themed Rainforest Foundation thrive in December.
Shaggy did admit that he had been approached by the Rihanna camp to audition for the record.
“There’s a lot of great people involved but for me I didn’t need to audition to be on the record, I’ll leave that to younger guys. But from what I hear it should be good.†Shaggy said.
What is puzzling is that they asked him to audition. Audition? Its Mr Bombastic! Why was he not just asked to do something for the record without having to audition? I am no expert in such matters but one would assume such legends would require a personal touch when being asked to do such things.
However, Shaggy did go on to praise RiRi and other international acts and commended the work being done for the reggae and dancehall genres.
“It’s healthy competition. Dancehall is in good place but we need as many people to do this art form as possible. When it crosses over and becomes popular with artistes from other genres and other cultures, that can only be good,†he said.
I[/embed] am sure with or without Mr Bombastic the album is still going to be a banger. It’s just a matter of time for its release now. But, next time a personal touch with artists like these may just be the difference. Or, maybe on the other hand, after doing an album with Sting, Shaggy feels too cool for these youngsters.