Last week during an interview with the Daily Star, reggae artist Shaggy said he wouldn’t be on Rihanna‘s upcoming album because he was asked to audition for it.
It’s something that Rihanna’s team responded to after Shaggy’s comments made headlines. Because in the fall of 2019 the “Umbrella” singer said the new album would be reggae-inspired, so many thought the Jamaican-born Shaggy would fit perfectly.
“They approached me for the Rihanna project,” he explained. “There’s a lot of great people involved, but, for me, I didn’t need to audition to be on the record. I’ll leave that to younger guys. But from what I hear it should be good.”
But according to Rihanna’s representative, Shaggy has it all wrong, and he wasn’t asked to audition. The rep also denied the reggae artist’s claims that Rihanna’s team reached out to him.
“After Rihanna had already gathered all the material for the album, Shaggy contacted her to ask her to be part of the album,” said the rep. “She explained that the album was very complete and that they were only working on mixing, mastering and deciding which songs [to] use.”
“However, she invited him to send some materials to see if it fit the flow of the album,” he or she added. “In no way was she asking for an audition.”
The rep then said it would be great if the “Boombastic” creator put out a statement.
“We hope Shaggy comes out and lets fans know the true truth,” that person explained. “Rihanna loves the people of Jamaica, loves Reggae fans and loves Reggae music since her career has proven and nothing can change that.”
A lot of folks left comments on Instagram after they saw the rep’s denial, and a debate broke out about who’s lying and who’s telling the truth.
“He’s a Legend…He doesn’t need to lie,” someone wrote about Shaggy on Instagram.
“He deff lied,” wrote a second person. I”dc how big of a legend he is. He lied period,” wrote another Instagram user.
“I love you Rih but Mr. Boombastic might be tellin the truth,” a third person stated.
“All y’all asking what does he have to lie for. The real question is what does she have to lie for?” wrote someone else.
