Dancehall star Shaggy shocks fans by speaking in 'real voice,' shares origin behind signature Jamaican accent

Dancehall star Shaggy shocks fans by speaking in 'real voice,' shares origin behind signature Jamaican accent

Dancehall legend Shaggy, born Orville Richard Burrell, and known for hits such as "Angel" and "It Wasn’t Me," has shocked fans after admitting he has played up his guttural Jamaican accent throughout his chequered music career.

In a video interview he did on Tiktok, fans can hear Shaggy effortlessly switching between his American and Jamaican accents. 

While the Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter was born in Jamaica, he moved to Brooklyn, New York with his mother when he was 18. A short time later, he joined the U.S. Marines.

"I got this voice by mocking drill instructions in the military," he explained. "And I would mock them as a form of joking because it motivated your platoon."

According to Fox News, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed Shaggy enlisted in the Marines as an artilleryman in 1988 and was based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Burrell and his regiment were later deployed to the Middle East from December 1990 to April 1991 for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

During his time in the military, authorities said he achieved the highest rank of lance corporal and was discharged from the Marines Corps in 1992. 

The following year, he gained traction in the music industry with the release of his first single "Oh Carolina" when he decided to keep up the accent to remain consistent in his sound.

"I just sang that song in that voice because it sounded cool and all of a sudden ‘Oh Carolina’ blew up and I’m faced with this situation that I’m going to have to sing every song like that," he explained.

The 'Church Heathen' hitmaker went on to describe that his music catalogue features a variety of tones; a few where he uses his mock drill sergeant voice and a few where he omits it.

Singles such as, "Big Up," and "Mampie," featured in his debut album, do not use the voice, whereas singles like "Oh Carolina" and 2000's Hot Shot track "It Wasn't Me" do.

"All of a sudden 'Oh Carolina' blew up and now I'm faced with the situation that I'm going to 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 a different tone. It is not the same tone as I would on, you know, 'Oh Carolina,'" Shaggy said.

After the video went viral, fans sounded off in the comment section of the post, absolutely shocked to hear what the artist sounded like in real life.

"So, we all just hearing Shaggy real voice for the first time?" one comment asked. Another TikTok user was stunned that Shaggy didn't use that voice all of the time. "Shaggy doesn't just like...sound like that all of the time??"

Others even made fun of the whole scenario, saying, "Well, he said it wasn't him. You can all now clearly see that it wasn't him all along..."

Shaggy won his first Grammy in 1996 for Best Reggae Album for "Boombastic," and won his second in the same category for the album "44/876."

The 55-year-old continues to release music and perform at concerts worldwide.

He recently collaborated with Rwandan star Bruce Melodie in their blended hit 'When She's Around (Funga Macho)'.

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