Jamaican Reggae and Dancehall icon, Shaggy, released a new single, “Mi Nuh Know” on Friday, March 18 on Ranch Entertainment. He is fresh off his Grammy Award nomination for producing and co-writing Spice’s groundbreaking album. The track interpolates “Wah-Do-Dem,” the infectious tune by fellow Jamaican “singjay” artist, Eek-A-Mouse and is available on all digital platforms with the correlating music video, directed by Jay Will, also out now.
“Dancehall is a colorful art form filled with different styles and tempos … it’s a part of what makes our culture stand out,” said Shaggy. “I wanted to push the envelope and revisit the art of scatting with timing and lyrics with a catchy hook (sound system style) …nothing is catchier than Eek-A-Mouse’s “Wah-Do-Dem!”
Video director, Jay Will (Sean Paul, Major Lazer, Lee Scratch Perry, Spice, Damian Marley, etc.) adds, “we had a lot of fun filming the “Mi Nuh Know” video. Shot in and around Miami, the video features cameo appearances from local talent including Walshy Fire and Popeye Caution and shows Shaggy in his element.”
Written by Shaggy, Omar Thompson, Shane Hoosong, Henry Lawes and Ripton Hylton, “Mi Nuh Know” is produced by Shaggy and Shane Hoosong, engineered by Grant Valentine, mixed by four-time Grammy Award winner, Robert “Hitmixer” Orton and mastered by Gene Grimaldi at Oasis Mastering.
Born Orville Richard Burrell and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Shaggy got his start as an MC in New York City’s burgeoning Dancehall scene soon after moving to Brooklyn in his teens. Not long after serving four years in the U.S. Marines (including two tours of duty in the Middle East as part of Operation Desert Storm), he inked his first record deal and quickly scored a global crossover smash with “Oh Carolina.”
As the only diamond-selling Dancehall artist in music history, Shaggy, managed by the Cherrytree Music Company, has sold more than 40 million album units to date, in addition to landing eight singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and seven albums on the Billboard 200 (including four in the top 40). He has received 2 Grammy Awardss and is among the top three streamed reggae artists of all time on Spotify.
Not only a pioneering Reggae and Dancehall icon, multi-award-winning songwriter and hitmaker, Shaggy has long used his platform to strengthen his community and homeland. In 2009, he established the Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation and organized the first of many, Shaggy & Friends benefit concerts, which to date have raised millions for the Bustamante Children’s Hospital (the Caribbean’s only English-speaking children’s hospital, located in Kingston).
“I always try to bring the fun when I’m performing, and keep everything very lighthearted and joyous,” says Shaggy. “I think my purpose and my job is to bring joy to as many people as I can, and I want that to resonate within all of the music that I create.”
