Shaggy shocks fans by using his real voice in a new interview and reveals the surprising military origins about his signature accent

Shaggy has stunned fans by using his real voice in a new interview, admitting he played up his Jamaican accent for his singing career.

The 55-year-old rapper (born Orville Richard Burrell) was born in Kingston, Jamaica, but moved to New York City with his mother when he turned 18.

He shared part of a new interview on his TikTok over the weekend, surprising many fans who had never heard his ‘real’ voice before.

Shaggy also revealed the story behind his famous accent, which he developed to mock his drill instructors.

‘I got this voice by mocking drill instructors in the military. Because in the Marines, the drill instructors would say, “Yeah boy, drop and give me 20, let’s go,” he said, using the voice he would use on hits like Boombastic.

“And I would mock him as a kind of joke because it motivated, you know, your sharing,” he admitted.

He added: “I just sang that song in that voice because you know… it sounded cool,” referring to his first big hit, Oh Carolina, which became a dancehall hit in 1993.

“Oh Carolina blew up and now I’m faced with the situation of having to sing every song like that,” he admitted.

The rapper added that other songs from his 1993 debut album Pure Pleasure such as Big Up and Mampie are ‘sung in a different voice than Oh Carolina’, adding that it is not the same tone.

Many fans on TikTok were quite shocked, including one fan named DJ who commented on the video: “So we all just heard a shaggy real voice for the first time?”

Another fan called Nick said: ‘That’s shaggy’s government vote???’ while another TikTok user called “Uhhh” said: “Shaggy being military explains it wasn’t me.”

Sarcastic Kitty added ‘Not Shaggy gas lighting us all these years’, while pinacolada3040 added, ‘HOLD UP!!! Shaggy DOESN’T HAVE AN ACCENT.’

Elle Michelle added: ‘Damn Shaggy really said “It wasn’t me” while Meliss said ‘shaggy’s real voice. had no idea!!’

Billie added: “Wow the whole time I thought shaggy was from Jamaica lol (even though he was really born in Kingston, Jamaica) while Gemini vs Gemini added, “I’m more shocked that shaggy doesn’t have an accent at all than that the robustness of musical voice.’

NNRZGD added, ‘damn I never knew shaggy’s voice sounded like this’, while Monty said: ‘I knew Shaggy was a marine but I expected his speaking voice to be RRRICE AND PEAS.’

Shaggy has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards and won two, both for Best Reggae Album in 1996 for Boombastic and again in 2019 for 44/876 with Sting.

He has released 16 studio albums, most recently Com Fli Wid Me in 2022, although it is unclear whether or not he is working on new music.