4 April 1993
Call it nominative determinism, the sickly aftertaste of his more recent hits, or my lack of reggae appreciation at the time, but I was certain a re-listen to this first Shaggy number one after all these years would show it to be fairly cartoonish. I’m happy to admit I was wrong…-ish.
Yes, his brand of gruff, gurning dancehall ragga still sounds like a randy cartoon wolf, eyes popping out with a hooter sound effect. Yes, he turns a song about fancying a lady into one that leers lasciviously at her. The tune itself, though, is surprisingly robust and old-school. On that point, I didn’t know that the retro sample at the start of Shaggy’s ‘Oh Carolina’ is from the original 1958 version of the same song, by the Folkes Brothers, or that there even was an original 1958 version. Whether this is included to establish his bona fides and lineage, or just out of playfulness, it suggests Shaggy was feeling comfortable about the direct comparison. His mentions of Brooklyn and Flatbush in the final chorus give a little modern-day zing to the song and hint at Shaggy’s years in America, which include his active service as a US Marine in the first Gulf War. Between Shaggy as a military man and me having even a slightly positive opinion of a Shaggy record, I’m not sure which was the more unlikely, but here we are.
