In a conversation with the former CEO of MTV Networks Bob Pittman Shaggy said he took his Grammy win for granted because the Marleys would always beat him.
“I took the whole Grammy thing for granted and I was nominated like seven times after that (Boombastic) and never got it, I was always beaten by a Marley or somebody or sumn, I just always lost, after a while I was like wow, I really wonder if I was gonna get back one and then I did this project (44/876). I really didn’t think I was gonna get a Grammy for this project, Sting-Shaggy?”
Shaggy was speaking to Pittman on his Math & Magic podcast in 2019 where he also told him that he is a representative of “Brand Jamaica”. Pittman is one of the most respected media players in the US who co-founded iHeartMedia and Casa Dragones Tequila. iHeartmedia owns the popular urban program The Breakfast Club on Power 105 fm in New York and other nationally syndicated programs.
Pittman, who owns a house in Jamaica, has had a long relationship with Shaggy who reinvented himself several times in the music industry.
Recently Shaggy said he plans to bring some of his high profile friends in the international music industry to Jamaica next year for the Island Music Conference.
One guest already confirmed for the February 2023 event is Madeline Nelson, CEO of Heads Music according to Shaggy business partner Sharon Burke.
Burke who is a veteran show promoter and music manager told WMV exclusively that, “It is time to educate the young artistes, musicians and music industry practitioners about this business of music. I am still learning everyday, the wheel never stops.”
The Solid Agency CEO said the reason why the conference is just now coming to fruition is because of the pandemic, but now they are ready for the inaugural staging.
“Shaggy and I discussed this years ago and when we were ready to move the pandemic struck. Shaggy Judith Bodley and I carefully mapped this out before moving forward. We are uniting the world through music,” she said.
A joint statement from Bodley and Burke outlined that the Island Music Conference 2023 is a follow up to the 7 successful stagings of the Jamaica Music Conference.
“I want to bring some of my friends, people who I deal with, the head of some of these companies and let people learn, just come in and just learn,” he stated.
“You have to be bankable, we are already at a disadvantage because we are only less than 5% of the market share, you gonna have to be a super artist,” the Ranch Entertainment artist says about reggae artists.
He says he has grown since his entry in the business because he put himself under a process of development.
“The Shaggy I am today is not the Shaggy I am when I just started, the Sean Paul you see today is not the Sean Paul he was when he just started, so there is a growth process,” he said.
With hits like It Wasn’t Me, Angel and Boombastic, Shaggy is as immortal as they come in the sync licensing world of music. He has scored Super Bowl ads with brands like Cheetos and Levis, but he says he became more aware of the business of music by hangin with Sting with whom he released and toured the Grammy winning album 44/876.
In the Jamaican parlance the Gulf War US Marine veteran said, “I used to think I make good money until i started touring with Sting and I say ‘rahtid music can make them kinda money yah?’ because I had no idea.”
His buddy Sting recently sold his catalogue to Universal Music Group for a whopping $300 million but no word yet on whether Sting will be present at the IMC.
“There is music business and there is also the business of music, if I knew then what i know now the amount of money I woulda swim innah…it is so vast the amount of avenue and income this entertainment can bring you, and if you don’t know how to monetize it you lost and other people will take it don’t care how the hug you up and say ‘you a me song you me bredda, you a me sister’ once there is an opportunity to take it they will take it,” the 54 year old music legend continued.
Shaggy says the right manager is key to developing an artist’s career but that manager must be sensitive to the marketplace.
“If you get a manager who don’t know how to build a career they just know how to collect a money then you gonna have a problem, you have to figure out what to take and when to get your money, when to say the opportunity, the look is better than the money, you have to know and that takes experience and education,” he said.
Shaggy indeed has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, winning twice for Best Reggae Album with Boombastic in 1996 and 44/876 with Sting in 2019.
He told WMV that he submitted his latest album for consideration ‘Come Fly With Me: Sinatra Songbook” in the Best Reggae Album Category.
California music label Ineffable Records submitted more than 9 albums from their roster for Best Reggae Album consideration including sets from Koshens, Demarco and Stick Figure. Sean Paul who released his Island Records debut Scorcha after he was snubbed last year when “Live N Livin” lost to SOJA’s “Beauty In the Silence” is also a strong contender.
