Shaggy’s real voice might shock you.
On Saturday, the singer/rapper – whose real name is Orville Richard Burrell CD – opened up about how he got his signature sound in a TikTok video.
“I got that voice mocking the drill instructors in the Army because in the Marine Corps the drill instructors would say ‘Yeah boy, put it down and give me a 20. Let’s go, boy.’ And I would make fun of them as a form of a joke because it motivated, you know, your platoon. I just sang that song in that voice because it sounded cool,” said Shaggy, 55, referring to songs like his 1995 song ” Boombastic ” where he sings the lyrics of “Lord’s Lover”.
Shaggy Says Fans Have Misunderstood ‘It Wasn’t Me’ For Decades: ‘It’s An Anti-Cheating Song’ (Exclusive)
The “It Wasn’t Me” artist then explained how the success of his 1993 cover of “Oh Carolina” forced him to confront whether or not he should sing in the same voice throughout his career.
“All of a sudden ‘Oh Carolina’ blew up and now I’m faced with a situation where I have to sing every song like that. If you’ve listened to songs like ‘Big Up’ or ‘Mampie’, those songs are sung in a different voice than ‘Oh Carolina’. It’s different tone. It’s not the same tone that I would on, you know, ‘Oh Carolina,'” Shaggy said.
According to the US Department of Defense, the two-time Grammy winner enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1988 as a gunner, serving with the 5th Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Shaggy and his regiment were deployed to the Middle East from December 1990 to April 1991, during the liberation of Kuwait, also known as operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
During his tenure in the Marines, he achieved “the highest rank of corporal after being reduced in rank twice due to UA or unauthorized absence,” which he said was due to not returning to base in time after leaving for New York City is working on her music career, according to the website.
By 1992, Shaggy was discharged from the Marines.
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In August 2023, the “Angel” singer opened up to PEOPLE about a longtime “delusion” about his 2000 hit “It Wasn’t Me.”
“That song isn’t a cheating song. It’s an anti-cheating song. It’s just that nobody listened to the record all the way through. There’s a part on the record where there’s a conversation between two people and you have one guy, and that’s me at that moment, giving that bad advice , like, “Yo bro, how did they get you? Just tell her, “It’s not me,” and then finally, the guy says, “I’m going to go tell her I’m sorry for the pain I caused. I listened to your reasoning, it makes no sense at all. I’ll tell her I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused .. You might think you’re a player, but you’re a total loser,'” Shaggy said.
He added: “Nobody hears that part! That’s what the song says. But everybody just got it, ‘It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me.’
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Source: HIS Education