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As the new year approaches, international artiste, Shaggy, is busily putting the final touches on planning his 'Shaggy and Friends' concert, which will be aiding the Bustamante Hospital for Children. In the last instalment of a four-part interview with Shaggy, he talks to reporter Krista Henry about his charity work and his future. In the last three instalments, Shaggy talked about his beginnings, his family, dancehall and his music.
KH: You've achieved a lot in your career, do you ever feel like for your future what else is there to really do?
Shaggy: "Yeah, sometimes but then mi critics will come wid sumting and mek mi latch unto it like I've done that, I've sold that and somebody may seh but him can't and I seh hmmm, fuel to the fire let me come again."
KH: So you listen to critics?
Shaggy: "I try not to, you know to be honest wid yuh. But I look at record companies over the years not paying attention to Shaggy, every single record company executive have all been fired right after they ditched me and then always I get back a hit which is bigger, den all of dem nuh have no job and I'm still here. You just have to be driven."
KH: Your work with the Bustamante Hospital for Children, how long have you been doing it?
Shaggy: "Seven years now."
KH: What inspired you?
Shaggy: "I went there to see a friend of mine, Dave Kelly, his little son, Shane, was in the hospital and i went there. I was there wid Dave Kelly and that is when I realised the condition of the hospital. I made a promise to myself, I said listen, if I blow up again, I'm gonna do something about it. When I blew up again I made good on that promise because of the fact that you want to do it when you're hot because you want to raise the awareness. We went on Rosie O'Donnell, Conan O'Brian, the Today Show and talked about it."
KH: Do you think this need to help the hospital was motivated by the fact that you're also a parent?
Shaggy: "That does cross my mind but that's not what triggered it, I think I kinda think like other people and this is the problem to yuh know. I was thinking how every other Jamaican that is fortunate that tru Miami, is right there. If my child get sick I can just jump on a plane and get them over there real quick.Then I realize if the child gets severely sick, is right there dem haffi go. But that really wasn't what triggered it. I thought it was bad and figured I could help and I had the means to do it."
KH: All the money comes out of your pocket?
Shaggy: "Up until now, now we need to give a lot more. When somebody looks at you and tell you his kid died in his arms cause there wasn't a machine, wha yuh do? The machine that was available was the only one that you bought and there was another kid on it and the only way that your child could live, was if that one die and you can't sit down wish pon di people pickney fi dead so that yours can live. To me that's just wrong in every sense of the word. When yuh look at the likkle girl, Peach, wid di bullet in her head and how dedicated her father is again, she hook up to another machine yuh buy, yuh haffi do something else. So mi decide to tek it on myself, I've been up every night dealing with this trying to get this thing going."
KH: Is this the only charity you're involved with?
Shaggy: "No. When I go places like Uganda, if I do a concert there I will go to an orphanage and give a ten thousand (dollars) back. That's me thinking some of those places don't even have running water but there they're paying me."
KH: So when you do this work, what makes it special for you?
Shaggy: "Everything I do, it gives me a good feeling. What gives me a bad feeling is when I fail, but everything from planting a flower to painting a wall to donating a machine, to wrapping Christmas presents for the kids in my living room. I invite different celebrities to come, last year we had Mavado and Bounty Killer, just to see the smile on their faces is a small price to pay."
KH: How much of a 'dent' in the needs of the hospital do you think this money will make?
Shaggy: "It will get them operational, they will get all the machines, they will be able to do their jobs comfortably with US$2 million."
KH: After the concert, what's next?
Shaggy: "We're trying to keep some kinda surplus in the account for the repairs and maintenance of these equipment. I bought them two steriliser machines and one bruk down, you need to be able to maintain so we need to keep raising funds, maybe we can help (Kingston) Public or Spanish Town Hospital."
KH: So what is next for you?
Shaggy: "This is one hurdle so once I get over it, as I said failure is not an option so we'll see how that go. Plus we have to start on production of the other one right away. I will be embarking on an Australian tour mid-January and then the promotion of Bad Man, depending on how it go I might be penning a new deal with another major record company, there's quite a few I'm in the talk with."
'Shaggy and Friends' will be held on January 3, 2009 at Jamaica House.
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