In today’s instalment of Ask Shaggy, we have a letter from RikRok, in Jamaica… “Dear Shaggy: I was recently caught red-handed by my wife, creeping with the girl next door. Picture this, we were both butt-naked, banging on the bathroom floor…”
It Wasn’t Me, by Shaggy (his 3rd of four #1s) ft. RikRok
1 week, from 4th – 11th March 2001
Ricardo ‘RikRok’ Ducent is in a bit of a pickle alright. How could I forget that I had given her an extra key? he asks, hand to forehead. Shaggy is not in the mood for sympathy however, offering blunt advice: deny everything. To be a true player you have to know how to play, If she say a-night, Convince her say a-day…
Caught on camera? Heard the screams of passion? Marks on your shoulder? The evidence of her very own eyes…? It wasn’t me. It’s not hard, nearly a quarter of a century on, to read a sinister subtext to this well-remembered chart-topper. It’s pure gaslighting, and not something you’d be allowed to get away with in the year of our Lord twenty twenty five.
But. At the same time, this is such a silly song, the situation so preposterous, Shaggy at his most cartoonishly alpha (especially in the video), that you cannot take it seriously. The idea that his advice will work is never supposed to enter the listener’s head. And at the end of the day, morality wins out, with RikRok deciding to ignore the advice and apologise: Gonna tell her that I’m sorry for the pain that I’ve caused, I’ve been listening to your reason, It makes no sense at all…
Compared to his two earlier hits, this is a much more pop-infused reggae than in ‘Oh Carolina’ or ‘Boombastic’. And in comparison to those hits, Shaggy is not the main attraction. Most of the story is carried by RikRok, with Shaggy delivering his two verses as the devil on his shoulder (in his trademark deliciously thick patois). But the move into pop paid off, as this was Shaggy’s first big hit in over half a decade, and the year’s biggest seller. (As well as becoming the decade’s highest-selling song not connected to a TV talent show!)
It wasn’t even supposed to be released as a single, but Shaggy and his record label were convinced after a radio DJ obtained an illegal copy of the song from Napster – nice period detail, there – and it became his most requested song. The single had a full four-month build up period before being released, and smashed in at number one with sales well over a quarter of a million.
And you have to admire Shaggy’s limpet-like ability to weather changes in style, to go for years between hits, and to still re-appear at the top of the charts every so often. In fact, 2001 will go down as his most successful year by far, with one further massive number one hit to come soon. Maybe this just proves, once and for all, that reggae is the one genre which will never truly die.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
Vile trash for neanderthals. One of the most wretched ‘songs’ of all time to reach number 1 up to that point. Sexist, misogynistic, homophobic garbage.
Well, I alluded to the fact it could have been seen as misogynistic in the post, but that theory only works if you ignore the end of the song when he rejects the advice and says sorry to the woman. And homophobic? No more homophobic than anything by two straight men automatically is, if you want to go down that route.
This song is so goofy I can’t help but like it. I don’t remember hearing this song by Shaggy a lot as a kid like I did “Bombastic” or “Angel”. Hearing Rik Rok delivering these lyrics so earnestly is kinda hilarious. It’s not one of my favourites by Shaggy but it’s fun. I do agree Rik Rok does all the heavy lifting on this song. It should be Rik Rok ft. Shaggy.
And what’s also kind of interesting is that Shaggy plays the fool here, on his own single. I’m fully convinced that we are supposed to be laughing at his advice, not believing it.
Never heard this before but I like the Napster backstreet. It’s pretty good.
I’m amazed you managed to live through 2001 and not hear this! Maybe not as big in NZ?
I still rate Shaggy, his recent stuff with Sting is great – just a shame radio has banished non-Marley reggae from the airwaves – Bob Marley is literally in radio 2 as I type, when there is a wealth of gems to pick from new and old. I much prefer the more roots of Oh Carolina and Boombastic, and yes of course Shaggy has his tongue in his cheek, upbeat and fluffy and catchy. These days everyone is so keen to be offended all the time they fail to grasp the concept of “fun” and “funny” and “fictional story”. Of course it wasn’t serious! It was more suggesting doing a Bart Simpson, “It wasn’t me, can’t prove anything” and it was ahead of it’s time if anything. The current President of the Unites States has made an entire career and fortune based on just claiming “It wasn’t me” when it’s on camera proving conclusively it was. This record was a template for the terminally gullible who will believe anything they are told, even over the evidence of their own eyes and experience.
So, still relevant and then some. Cheating on your girlfriend should indeed be a lot easier to weasel out of than trying to overthrow democracy, and you are right, it was advice ignored – so it’s now entirely down to how said fictional girlfriend feels about learning the truth of the fictional story, and it’s her business and nobody else’s to impose their or anyone else’s morality on them. A lot of us have been in that situation ourselves, and everyone is free to do what they want to do about it…. 🙂
I did have a line about a certain politician in an earlier draft of this post, but took it out as his name is a lightning rod for lots of opinions that have nothing to do with pop music… But yes, ‘It Wasn’t Me’ being one of the 21st century’s best-sellers has turned out quite fitting. And not in a good way.
I haven’t vanished I promise!