Set to inspire Rwanda local artistes
 
Yeah, the Jamaican born Reggae master Shaggy is coming. And will be performing at Amahoro National Stadium, December, 13, said Amini Gafaranga, the MTN Rwanda Business Development Manager.

"Our major aim is to promote the local entertainment industry by hiring international Grammy Award winners,” Gafaranga explained why MTN Rwanda is partly sponsoring the concert.

Adding that, "We’re also trying to inspire local artistes so that they can also hit international music charts.”

Maggie Kanyana, founder of 4Real Promotions, a local company that helps local artistes said their target is to improve Rwanda’s entertainment industry.

Region and local artistes will also perform during the concert. They include, Rwanda’s hip-hop master, Rafiki Mazimapaka, aka Choga Style, Miss Shanel, Family Squad crew.

Fans speak out
"This is definitely going to be a mega concert in the history books of Rwanda’s entertainment scene,” says Andrew Kamanzi.

"I’m already excited and very nervously waiting for this concert. I love Shaggy, and I must attend his concert,” Jackie Umurerwa said.

Who is Shaggy
Born Orville Richard Burrell on October 22, 1968, in Kingston, Jamaica, he was nicknamed Shaggy— a Scooby-Doo character.
In 1988, he joined the United States Marine Corps as a Field Artillery Cannon Crewman with 5th Battalion, 10th Marines.

While enlisted in the Marines he served during Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War.

It was during this time that Shaggy perfected his signature singing voice, breaking the constant monotony of running and marching cadences with his flair for inflection. It is also where he got the inspiration for his song "Mr. Boombastic.”

Upon his return from the Persian Gulf, he decided to pursue his music career and his first hit in 1993: "Oh Carolina”, was a dancehall re-make of a ska hit by the Folkes Brothers.

Emerging in the early ‘90s, Shaggy was the biggest crossover success in dancehall reggae. Not only did he become the genre’s most commercially potent artist in the international market, he was also more than just a typical flash in the pan, managing to sustain a career over the course of several highly popular albums.

Since his debut album, Shaggy has ridden a wave of popularity with a string of hit singles.

He has released seven albums including: ‘Lucky Day’, ‘Hotshot and clothes Drop’ and sold over 20 million albums and he is one of the reggae artistes who always have a new record pulsing through the dancehall market.

He then had a major comeback in 2001, featuring worldwide number-one hit singles "It Wasn’t Me” and "Angel”, the latter of which was built around two song samples - Merrilee Rush’s 1968 hit "Angel of the Morning” (which was remade in 1981 by Juice Newton), and The Steve Miller Band’s 1973 hit "The Joker”.

The album Hot Shot, from which those cuts came, would hit number one on the Billboard 200 and UK album chart.

However, his 2002 release Lucky Day, and the 2005 album Clothes Drop failed to match Hot Shot’s success, although Lucky Day still went gold.

On March 11, 2007, Shaggy performed the official song of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2007, entitled "The Game of Love and Unity”, with Barbadian entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian Faye-Ann Lyons at the opening ceremony at The Greenfield Stadium, Trelawny, Jamaica.

On August 2007, he joined Cyndi Lauper in Singapore for the Sonnet Music Festival, where they performed "Girls Just Want To Have Fun”.

On October 15, 2007, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander (CD).

In January 2008, Shaggy performed a concert with Natalia and En Vogue in Antwerp.

In 2008, Union of European Football Association (UEFA) chose Shaggy to record the official anthem for the Mascots (Trix and Flix) of the Euro 2008 football tournament held in Austria and Switzerland. The song is called "Feel the Rush”.

Additional information from the Internet