Shaggy to bring distinctive voice here for MayJah RayJah

Get ready, Hawaii! Shaggy — the man known to millions as “Mr. Boombastic” and “Mr. Lover Lover,” the man who poetically describes himself as a “boombastic romantic fantastic lover” — is back in Honolulu for the weekend.

The Jamaican-born reggae fusion singer and songwriter, an island favorite for more than two decades, is here for the MayJah RayJah Music Festival, and he is ready to be “boombastic.”

“It’s a long time coming and we’ll be in good company,” Shaggy said with a chuckle, referring to his return to the islands and the artists with whom he’s sharing the stage.

The performer called from Kingston, Jamaica, where he was arranging a donation of equipment to a children’s hospital. Shaggy says he considers touring to be “time off” from his charity work. He was recognized by the government of Jamaica in 2007 as a Commander of the Order of Distinction, an honor conferred upon Jamaican citizens who have rendered outstanding services to the nation.

He’ll come to Hawaii on his way back from a performance in Japan.

“I would really like the ladies to wear as little clothes as possible because it’s going to be very hot, and they should wear very comfortable shoes because we’ll be doing all the Shaggy classics,” he said. “I can’t wait to get to Hawaii because I always have a lovely time. My favorite island is Maui but I will settle for Oahu. I’m really looking forward to going there and meeting and greeting the people.”

This year’s two-day MayJah RayJah opens Friday at 4 p.m. and continues up to the Waikiki Shell curfew of 10 p.m., with headliners Katchafire at 7:50 p.m. and Soja at 9 p.m.

Day Two starts Saturday at 4 p.m., with Rebel Souljahz at 7:45 p.m. and Shaggy scheduled to go on at 9 p.m.

Hawaii has loved Shaggy since 1993 when it discovered his first hit, “Oh Carolina,” a remake of a 1960 Jamaican hit by the Folkes Brothers; moviegoers heard Shaggy’s hit remake later that year in the soundtrack of the R-rated thriller “Sliver.”

Shaggy’s big breakthrough came three years later with “Boombastic.” The original version of the song was relatively successful. Then Shaggy’s vocal track was remixed around a sample from Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit “Let’s Get It On.” The remix was considerably more sensual than the original. It was much bigger as a pop hit than the original.

“I’m surprised they paid me for that one,” he said with a hearty laugh. “‘Oh Carolina’ — not taking anything away from it — it was a global worldwide hit, but when ‘Mr. Boombastic’ came along people really understood what Shaggy was all about. To this day it is still a classic.”

Shaggy scored another “classic” five years later with “It Wasn’t Me.” The song — a duet with British-born Jamaican singer Rikroc — is the biggest Hot 100 hit of his career to date. A Hawaii resident got it started for him.

The year was 2000. Shaggy’s record label had announced that a new album was going to be released, but KIKI Hot I-94 deejay/Music Director Pablo Sato didn’t want to wait for the official release date. He downloaded a copy that had been bootlegged to a file-sharing service.

The label had announced that a song titled “Dance and Shout” would be the first single from the album. Sato preferred another track, “It Wasn’t Me.” He started playing it.

The song “blew up” in Hawaii, and it was a hit here by the time Shaggy came over for a concert that September. Then it started blowing up on the mainland. “It Wasn’t Me” spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Shaggy’s next single, “Angel,” which he recorded with Barbadian-American reggae singer Rayvon, also reached the top spot on the Hot 100; it also topped the British and Australian pop singles charts.

The music business has changed tremendously since then. These days Shaggy’s career as a recording artist exists largely off the traditional mainstream pop and “urban” charts. For instance, “Seasons,” featuring Jamaican vocalist Omi, was released this year and is his current “commercial” single, but commercial songs are only part of his overall output.

“Some songs are commercial, and then there are another set of songs that we put out for the core market which is Jamaican dancehall, and there are other songs for the roots market — for the reggae market,” he explained.

“I put out songs for different reasons and for different markets. ‘Church Heathen,’ which is dancehall, was 19 weeks at No. 1 on the dancehall charts, so, yes, we’ve had a lot of commercial hits, but we also have the dancehall and the reggae market.”

“I’ve been labeled the biggest one-hit wonder of all time. Then I’m a two-hit wonder and then a three-hit wonder and then a four-hit wonder and then a five-hit wonder,” he said. “I’ve been counted out (of the business) so many times.

“One thing it teaches everybody is that you can’t count me out, I’m still around. You can’t count out ‘Mr. Lover.’”