Veteran reggae and dancehall artist Shaggy has reached a milestone only a
handful of artists in the genre has accomplished.
His classic song “It Wasn’t Me” has now surpassed one billion streams on
Spotify, the biggest music streaming platform in the world.
The song, which features Rik Rok, was released in November, 2000. It hit the number
1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, becoming Shaggy’s first number 1 hit.
The song tells the story from the perspective of a man who’s girlfriend walked in and
caught him in the act of cheating. The man is asking for advice from his friend
on how to handle the situation and his friend (Rik Rok) advises him to deny
everything and claim “it wasn’t me”.
The song is often credited as Shaggy’s most well-known and career-defining
song.
The song is both Shaggy’s and Rik Rok’s first song to hit Spotify’s one billion
streams milestone.
Only five other reggae/dancehall songs have accomplished this.
Despite the massive success of “It Wasn’t Me”, the song was almost cut from
Shaggy’s album back in 2000.
In a previous interview, Shaggy revealed that his manager at the time did not
like the song and did not think it would do well. He said it was an official at
MCA Records who listened to it and felt it would be a hit.
The song continues to be a success 24 years later, regularly being used in
movies and advertisements.
