SHAGGY
Hot Shot (MCA Records)
Reviewed by Bill Holmes

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Shaggy, nee Orville Burrell, is a Jamaican native who left his homeland at 18 to move in with his mother in Brooklyn. He enlisted in the military, fought in the Gulf War, and has had success with placing songs on soundtrack albums. And, frankly, the reggae-meets-soul music stew of Hot Shot will certainly be blasting across dance floors and out of bouncing cars well into the Fall of 2000. For all I know, Shaggy is a probably a good guy, and he's obviously made some good choices in his life so far.

But I have a big problem with Hot Shot, and it's not all Shaggy's fault.

In plain English, when someone takes an established hit record, steals half of it and adds a few changes, and then insists that they have "created art", that's bullshit. And when said "artiste" is then celebrated for his "hitmaking ability" and "genius", that's even greater bullshit. Obviously the man can assemble some sounds, but the song getting the big push ("Dance And Shout") is The Jackson's "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" with a flimsy fake mustache. And although the press kit says "Angel" is only "based on" the sixties hit, it's a blatant note-for-note rip-off of "Angel Of The Morning". Worse yet, under the "street rap" jive, the classic tune is saddled with inane lyrics like "Girl you're my angel/you're my darling, angel/closer than my peeps you are to me…". Closer than my peeps? Jeezuz!

It doesn't stop there; go through the record track by track and you can find thirteen artists who should be getting fat paychecks from this jive. Has the industry lost all credibility in pursuit of the almighty dollar? As long as the record companies continue to let people like Shaggy and Puff Daddy blatantly co-opt music and call it their own, they are contemptible. And as long as the public is willing to accept this crap under the guise of creativity, they are equally culpable. I'm well aware that reggae DJs and artists have been "putting a spin" on established songs for decades. Hey, if you want to do something like that at a party, fine. But if you want to be a recording artist, come up with your own damned music or at least give credit where credit is legally due.

© 2000 - Bill Holmes