Shaggy Confirmed For London’s 2023 Notting Hill Carnival
The reggae star’s appearance at the legendary UK event coincides with the 30th anniversary of his first UK hit ‘Oh Carolina.’
Shaggy is set to perform at London’s world famous Notting Hill Carnival this August Bank Holiday.
The star, renowned for hits including “Angel” and “It Wasn’t Me” and for his collaborative work with Sting is set to entertain the crowds on the Saxon and Rampage stages and will be celebrating 30 years since he scored his first UK No.1 single with “Oh Carolina.”
The announcement of Shaggy’s Notting Hill date comes after the Jamaican reggae legend dropped the soca-inspired EP ‘In The Mood.’
Shaggy said in a statement: “I’m in the mood big time for this year’s Notting Hill Carnival. It’s one of the biggest carnivals in the world and represents Caribbean culture from foundation to future.”
“Thirty years after the release of “Oh Carolina,” I wanted to get back to my roots and celebrate in the streets where everything took off. My latest EP ‘In The Mood’ is all about the party and community of our culture – people coming together to celebrate life. It’s dancehall, soca, reggae and dance music all wrapped up in one musical explosion.”
This year’s Notting Hill Carnival kicks off on Sunday, August 27, with J’Ouvert and the Children’s Day parade.
On Monday, August 28, the full Carnival community takes to the streets in their color and splendor, displaying their hand-made costumes that represent a year of communities coming together to celebrate Caribbean culture.
This year’s event will be celebrating the Windrush Generation and 50 years of Mas and Sound Systems. It was the 75th anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush first transporting people to the UK from the Caribbean on June 22, while it’s been five decades since the first sound systems and Mas (Masquerade) bands arrived. Visit the event’s official website for further information.
Earlier this summer, Shaggy finally explained the lyric behind his huge hit “It Wasn’t Me,” after fans have repeatedly assumed it was a song about cheating. The song’s lyric suggest that despite being caught in all sorts of lewd acts, the narrator keeps on insisting he is innocent. In a new interview with People however, Shaggy officially spilled the details on the song, insisting it’s much more than a typical cheating song.
“It was a big misconception with that song because that song is not a cheating song,” he said. “It’s an anti-cheating song. It’s just that nobody listened to the record to the end.”
Listen to the best of Shaggy on Apple Music and Spotify.
