Customer Reviews

Hotshot

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Shaggy, as most people know by now, was dropped by his record label when his last album bombed. What a great comeback story this young man has written by coming up with an album that placed him on top of the Billboard 200 album chart. He did this after his album had been out for over 20 weeks. That is almost unheard of today considering that most of the time when a new album is released, it debuts at #1. You are not going find anything innovative on this album. Shaggy whether he is rapping or singing or he's just in the background, gives the listener a wide variety of songs to enjoy. Hotshot, the title track and first track, showcases his underrated rapping skills. Dance and Shout cleverly borrows a groove from the Jackson 5. Angel does this one better: it samples Steve Miller's classic, The Joker, and it contains interpolations of that classic gem by Juice Newton, Angel of the Morning. Clearly, this is one of the best songs on the album and a former #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart which was even more impressive considering Shaggy never released a CD single version of this song. Hope is an uplifting song that has been used in a show on HBO. Luv Me, Luv Me first appeared on the How Stella Got Her Groove Back Soundtrack CD with Janet Jackson singing the background part. Unfortunately, Shaggy changes it a little bit by getting a woman named Samantha Cole to sing this part. Although no Janet Jackson, she still does a good job. It Wasn't Me was the other big hit also going to number #1. This is probably my favorite song--I love it when Ducent sings "She even caught me on camera" and you can hear Shaggy sorta grunt in the background! Not Fair, Hey Love, and Why Me Lord are the other above average tracks with Hey Love and Not Fair featuring good singing performances from Shaggy. I admit that I only bought this CD after seeing that he had 2 songs in the Billboard Singles Top 10 in Angel and It Wasn't Me, but there are other good tracks here. This is an album for any R&B fan and for anyone who likes good music in general. With a 200+ CD collection, I have to be careful in not overplaying this CD. It's that good--buy it today!

So I'm driving to the 7-11 in the family van (I'm a 50 year old dad y'see) and I turn on the radio. The station is where the kids left it. I hear "It Wasn't Me" booming outta the speaker...only this time I didn't think *oh no...more of that repetitive rap...* Nope. Whatta tune. I'm boppin' and flowin' and just sorta tranced out listening to the thing...I get to the store and I keep listening till the song is over and the DJ says who it is. Next day I'm in the store picking the CD up...and I love this stuff. Only until now I don't figger I care much about reggae and I really don't know squat about hip-hop. I mean I mostly like Vince Gill and Hall and Oates and Jeff Beck and Gene Autry type stuff. Well...I care now. Time to get educated. Thanks, Shaggy. I don't care how old you are or what you think of rap and hip-hop and reggae...get this CD and *get* this CD.

I bought this album when it first came out because I looked at the tracklist and saw that I already knew and loved a ton of songs on it. The rest of the album was definitely not a disappointment either. Shaggy is awesome and very funny, perhaps without even trying to be. Here are the tracks: 1. HOTSHOT: This is a pretty good song. It's good to open the album up but definitely not one of my favorites. 2. LONELY LOVER: This song is so good!!! It really flows nicely and Shaggy's singsongy rap style is very cool. This is a really cool, mellow track. 3. DANCE & SHOUT: Michael Jackson's voice flows very nice in this party starter of a song. It's very good, and is a single so most of you guys probably have heard it. 4. LEAVE IT TO ME: This is a nice, kind of mellow love song. Shaggy sings in this one more than he raps. 5. ANGEL: I love this song!! The sample works VERY well in the context of Shaggy's album. A classic song, updated in a classy way. Very reggae feeling. 6. HOPE: I don't know why this song wasn't all that popular as a single. It is really good. The lyrical content of this song is excellent. It's upbeat and catchy. 7. KEEP'N IT REAL: This is a cool, jazzy sort of song. Shaggy knows how to make a really catchy song. He's a talented singer as well as a rapper. 8. LUV ME, LUV ME: I was very disappointed that this wasn't the version where Janet Jackson sings the chorus. I love Janet, but this song's still good and uses a very catchy sample. 9. FREAKY GIRL: This is more of a standard r&b song but Shaggy just seems to make it sound so classy and vintage. 10. IT WASN'T ME: This has always been my favorite song, even though it looks as if it'll be overplayed on the radio now that it's a single. This will be a huge hit for Shaggy, and will still probably be my favorite. It's very funny! 11. NOT FAIR: I swear that there is an old woman singing on this track! It is hilarious!!! This is another highlight from the album. It's really funny to picture an elderly woman in the context of this song. It's very catchy. 12. HEY LOVE: I love the melody of the chorus of this song. It has a cool indian/arabian sounding singer in it. Shaggy has a lot of diverstiy in his music. This song is excellent. 13. WHY ME LORD?: God! These songs are so catchy!! This one is excellent, as well as all the others. 14. CHICA BONITA: This is a very caribbean sounding song and different from everything else on the album. It's very good. ~ no lyrics included

If you are like you are probably wondering..."Is this CD good or will I buy a CD and yet again only like a couple of songs on it?" Well let me tell you, BUY THE CD! Before I purchased the CD I had only heard "Angel" and "It wasn't me" and thought they were good. I caught off guard by how good the ENTIRE CD was. From the first song to the last you will rock, glide and groove with the hits. Shaggy does a great job of sampling old hits and adding his distinct flavor. If you thought "Angel" and "It wasn't me" were good, then the CD only gets better. I haven't turned the radio on for the past two weeks because I have been listening to Shaggy. It is rare today to find a CD that goes beyond the one hit single and deliver a total product that is worth buying. But Shaggy has managed to please fans and convert new ones like myself.

i have to say there are brilliant songs here, the best being "it wasn't me". uplifting and cheerful, i have to admit to liking some of these songs even though i don't normally listen to this type of music! its a must for the artist and those who haven't heard it will be struck by some of the lyrics (stupid as some are, and funny!) and its a definite buy

I thought this would be a great CD. I knew I'd heard Shaggy's guest vocals on songs for a few years. And in 1999 he released the song 'Hope' - a sweet, original song about growing up, and his mother teaching him to 'always hang on to what he believes and never give up.' And this year his success with radio has been unmistakable. (Don't you hate it each time you catch yourself singing "picture this / we were both butt naked / bangin' on the bathroom floor." Or is that just me?) Even though I wasn't crazy about the tune (It Wasn't Me), I was happy that he'd finally "made it." Well, regardless of his new success, I've discovered that the more Shaggy I get, the less I want.

There are a few things that I like about this album. Mostly, it's got a consistent, down-tempo pop-reggae beat that flows easily from song to song. If you were at a party with a lot of people talking, it would provide a nice backbeat. Numerous tracks were recorded in Jamaica, some even at Tuff Gong Studios. And there are a few songs here that I like, like Hope, Lonely Lover, and Keep'n It Real. But after a while I noticed how strenuously crafted each one was to become a pop hit, and then I realized how superficial the entire CD is. Each of the 14 songs is perfect "radio" time - between 3:45 seconds and 4 minutes. You begin to feel like you ARE listening to the radio, and not to an album by an artist that longs to be taken seriously. Then there's the constant sampling (some would say "ripping off") of older Pop classics, like Shake Your Body To The Ground (Michael Jackson), Angel of The Morning (Merrilee Rush), or Just Don't Want To Be Lonely (The Main Ingredient). Almost half the album samples earlier hits by other artists. Two songs repeatedly sample Michael Jackson's trademark, falsetto 'Yow!' - over and over again. It made me want to take a baseball bat to my stereo. The screeching even annoyed my cat. I visualized some young kid in a recording studio, with his finger repeatedly pushing the sampling button.

When thrown into the mix are some consistently shameless, libidinous lyrics - you'll probably also decide the less Shaggy the better. What clinched it for me were the words to "Not Fair," where his girlfriend sings to him "I've been going down on you / but you're not going down on me..." Look, people do what people do, but I don't want to hear this kind of tripe in my music. Upon repeated listening, another realization is that Shaggy's voice sounds quite a bit, well, froggy - which is okay in smaller doses - like when his raspy reggae rap counter-balances another vocalist, like seasoning. But when it's all seasoning and no meat, it's too pungent to enjoy. I like the fact that there are numerous guest vocalists on this CD - eight in all, including Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent (It Wasn't Me), Mister Mydas (Hope) and Pee Wee (Dance & Shout). But I suspect what the album producers have probably found out - that the most palatable way to take Shaggy's rasp is when the song can be tempered by the melody of someone else's voice.

In truth, I probably wouldn't be as critical of his voice if I liked the lyrics better, or if each song didn't sound like another variation of the same formula. But added together it just becomes an annoying escapade into the sordid, contrived details of a self-described 'hot shot.' I'd recommend that Shaggy start over again, go back to the emotion and sentiment of 'Hope' - and heed his own words..."in this life you can lead if you only believe and in order to achieve what you need you can never give up."

Wow, this was a great one. I am not a reggae fan, more rap, but this was GREAT. The beat is infectious and there is no way you will listen to "It Wasn't Me" or "Angel" and not totally fall in love with this music. This is great!

Shaggy has finally done it again, on his new edition "Hot Shot". Hot Shot takes its' listerners into a world of musical flavor. Great flavor, has to have a lot of spice and Shaggy definately demonstrated how he can let off steam. All of the tracks will appeal to your musical taste, especially, "Freaky" where Shaggy chants of how experimental women should not listen to what critics say because it's a beautiful thing and he loves it when Freaky women climb on him because he knows that they are not going to run from him. Fellas this song will definately attract your musical taste. However, "Not Fair" another sound which I thought that Shaggy was very creative with, should hit a humorous part with the ladies. Since, we all know that we do not like to be interruptted by a phone call during our intimate moments. This song is also for couples who obstruct their neighbours, letting them aware of whats' going on. Another track on the single that enlightens me is "It wasn't me" this songs explores the situation of a man and a woman, when a man is caught cheating. Althought, Shaggy is known for his own style of music he shows a great achievement by "Chica Bonita" a song with a spanish flavor, which I think came out very well. In addition, an artists should always show an insight of his personality throught his music, so Shaggy included other songs like "Hope and Keeping It Real". If you are expecting to know what he thinks or does to romance the ladies and his message to younger men, to treat their shorties right. Then it is my advice to you, to go ahead and by this CD. I guarantee you, you will not regret it.

I just bought this cd yesterday and I am so in love with it! I didnt think I would like it, and I only bought it for song #10, WASNT ME. Then I listened to the other songs, and #4, and #5 and they are awesome too!

This album is a disappointment. I thought it would be good because I liked the songs "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel". This is a really bad album. Shaggy gets really annoying by continuously calling himself Mr. Lover and Mr. Hotshot. This is a waste of money and time. The only songs that aren't terrible have already been on the radio. You aren't missing anything by not owning this album.