Shaggy To Perform At Michael Jackson's 30th Anniversary

07/06/2001 10:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Jason Gelman

(7/6/01, 10 a.m. ET) -- Shaggy is just one of the many musicians who will salute Michael Jackson at his milestone-concert event--titled Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, The Solo Years--on September 7 and 10 in New York City.

In some respects, Shaggy's participation in the mega-concert is payback for a personal favor from the self-proclaimed "King of Pop" that helped to launch the reggae superstar's Hotshot to the top of the album charts earlier this year. The first single released from Hotshot was "Dance & Shout," which samples the Jacksons' "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)," from the group's 1978 album Destiny. Shaggy explained that before he could legally use the "Shake Your Body" sample, he had to get permission from both Michael and his brother Randy Jackson.

"Michael was really great in giving me the sample anyway because a lot of people tried to obtain a sample and couldn't get it. And one phone call and he said, 'Yeah, I already heard it and I think it's dope. You got it,' and he was cool, too," Shaggy said. "He actually gave me a piece of the action. There were people that I've used samples with that just wanted everything. He basically was, like, 'Hey, go ahead, man.'"

Shaggy told LAUNCH that he was introduced to the Jacksons' sample several months earlier at a meeting with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. "I went down to Flyte Tyme and they played me about four or five loops, and that one just stood out to me, man--it was obvious. It felt like something I could 'Shagga-tize.' I just flowed on there. It's not your great record, as far as credibility-wise. I just took Michael Jackson's sample and I flipped it, but it's a great idea, and a great sound and a great song."

Shaggy noted that it's pretty amazing that the teens who bought the single "Dance & Shout" were not even born in 1979, when "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" was a top-10 hit for the Jacksons. Shaggy laughed, "These kids don't even know the original. They think it's, like, a Shaggy original, the younger kids, you know?"

Hotshot is currently certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America. Tickets for both Michael Jackson tribute concerts go on sale July 26 through the Madison Square Garden box office and Ticketmaster, with prices ranging from $45 to $500 per seat.

-- Jason Gelman and Ana Maria Gibson, New York

Got news tips, comments, or questions? Send them to newstips@launch.com.