‘It’s not a talent show’ - Rihanna's team shuts down Shaggy's claim that he was asked to audition for her album

Jamaica’s iconic reggae vet Shaggy sent major shockwaves through the international dancehall and reggae community last week after claiming to Daily Star that he turned down a feature offer for Barbadian bad gal Rihanna’s forthcoming studio album R9.

According to Shag’s claim: “ They [Rihanna’s team] approached me for the Rihanna project. There’s a lot of great people involved, but for me, I didn’t need to audition to be on the record, I’ll leave that to younger guys. But from what I hear it should be good.”

However, Rihanna’s team have shared their side of the story and it sounds a whole lot different to Shaggy’s version.

A reported rep for Rihanna told Jamaica Irie FM morning show: ‘We are working on an album, not a talent show, so why would she [Rihanna] require Shaggy or any other artist to audition.

‘After Rihanna had already gathered all the material for the album, Shaggy contacted her asking to be a part of the album.’ ‘She explained to him that the album was pretty much completed and they were just working on mixing, mastering and deciding which songs to actually use,’ they said. 

‘However, she invited him to submit some materials so she could see if it fits with the flow of the album. That was by no means asking for an audition, it was more going out of her way to get him on the album.’

The spokesperson said they hope Shaggy will ‘come out and let the fans know the real truth’.

‘Rihanna loves the people of Jamaica, she loves the fans of Reggae and she loves Reggae music as her career has proven and nothing can or will ever change that,’ they added.