Shaggy has stunned fans by using his real voice in a new interview, admitting that he played up his Jamaican accent for his singing career.
The 55-year-old rapper (born Orville Richard Burrell) was born in Kingston, Jamaica but moved to New York City with his mother when he turned 18.
He shared part of a new interview on his TikTok over the weekend, which surprised many fans who had never heard his ‘real’ voice before.
Shaggy also revealed the history behind his famous accent, which he developed to mock his drill instructors.
‘I got this voice by mocking drill instructors in the military. Because in the Marines, the drill instructors would go, “Yeah boy, drop and give me 20, let’s go,” he said, using the voice he’d use on hits like Boombastic.
Shaggy has stunned fans by using his real voice in a new interview, admitting that he played up his Jamaican accent for his singing career
The 55-year-old rapper (born Orville Richard Burrell) was born in Kingston, Jamaica but moved to New York City with his mother when he turned 18
He shared part of a new interview on his TikTok over the weekend, which surprised many fans who had never heard his ‘real’ voice before
‘And I would mock him as a form of joking because it motivated, you know, your platoon,’ he admitted.
He added, ‘I just sang that song in that voice because, you know, that… it sounded cool,’ referring to his first big hit, Oh Carolina, which became a dancehall hit in 1993.
‘Oh Carolina blew up and now I’m faced with the situation that I’m gonna have to sing every song like that,’ he admitted.
The rapper added that other songs from his 1993 debut album Pure Pleasure like Big Up and Mampie are, ‘sung in a different voice than Oh Carolina,’ adding it’s ‘not the same tone.’
Many fans on TikTok were quite shocked, including a fan named DJ who commented on the video, ‘So we all just hearing shaggy real voice for the first time?’
Another fan named Nick said, ‘That’s shaggy’s government voice???’ while another TikTok user dubbed, ‘Uh uhh’ said, ‘Shaggy being military explains wasnt me.’
Sarcastic Kitty added ‘Not Shaggy gas lighting us all these years,’ while pinacolada3040 added, ‘HOLD UP!!! Shaggy DOESNT HAVE AN ACCENT.’
Elle Michelle added, ‘Damn Shaggy really said “It wasn’t me”’ while Meliss stated, ‘shaggy’s real voice. had no idea!!’
‘Oh Carolina blew up and now I’m faced with the situation that I’m gonna have to sing every song like that,’ he admitted.
The rapper added that other songs from his 1993 debut album Pure Pleasure like Big Up and Mampie are, ‘sung in a different voice than Oh Carolina,’ adding it’s ‘not the same tone.’
Many fans on TikTok were quite shocked, including a fan named DJ who commented on the video, ‘So we all just hearing shaggy real voice for the first time?’
Billie added, ‘Wow this whole time I thought shaggy was from Jamaica lol (though he really was born in Kingston, Jamaica) while Gemini vs Gemini added, ‘I’m more shook that shaggy doesn’t have an accent at all than the ruggedness of the musical voice.’
NNRZGD added, ‘Damn never knew shaggy voice sound like this,’ while Monty said, ‘I knew Shaggy was a Marine, but I expected his speaking voice to be RRRICE AND PEAS.’
Shaggy has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, winning two, both for Best Reggae Album in 1996 for Boombastic and again in 2019 for 44/876 with Sting.
He has released 16 studio albums, most recently Com Fli Wid Me in 2022, though it’s unclear if he’s working on new music or not.