Rolling Stone (9/7/95, p.70) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - "...BOOMBASTIC not only fulfills the promise of `Oh Carolina' and PURE PLEASURE, the album from which it came, it catapults Shaggy to the top of the heap. It's a diverse collection of great songs without a weak cut among them..."
Vibe (9/95, p.184) - "...His main assets are a booming voice--smooth with a ruffness--and a diverse selection of tracks....Don Gordon he's not, but Shaggy, like Snow, has taken reggae to a whole new audience..."
Personnel includes: Shaggy (vocals); Steve Golding (guitar); Matty Kersich (horns); Brian Gold, Toney Gold, Kimbalyn Miller, Glen Rick, Robert Zapata, Kent Bryan, Duley Culture, Shaun "Sting Int'l" Pizzonia (background vocals); Rayvon, Wayne Wonder, Gold Mine, Grand Puba, Ken Booth, Budda Junky Swan, George Miller, Dennis Donald, Paul Crosdale, Robert Livingston, Dennis Halliburton, Toney Kelly, Anastous Hackett, John Raf Allen.
Producers include: Robert Livingston, Shaun "Sting Int'l" Pizzonia, Toney Kelly, Bobby Dixon, Robert Livingston.
Engineers include: Les, Dr. Marshall Harris, Shaun "Sting Int'l" Pizzonia.
Recorded at H.C. & F. Recording Studio, Long Island, New York; Music Works Recording Studio and Digital B Recording Studio, Jamaica.
BOOMBASTIC won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.
You can hear it echoing off the walls of buildings, pouring from four-wheelers and BMWs alike. "Boombastic" was THE summer jam of 1995 for a good-sized portion of America, both urban and otherwise. In fact, it's still holding steady on some top ten charts. And now Mr. Boombastic, Brooklyn's own Shaggy, has released that song, and a few more dance hall-flavored numbers, on a full-length disc.
BOOMBASTIC is rap from the old school (via Jamaica, of course). It's pure braggadocio, and Shaggy enlists the help of Grand Puba (on "Why You Treat Me So Bad") and singer/rapper Rayvon (for an unlikely cover of Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime") to accomplish his rhythmic mission. "Love Thang" by First Choice, Bob Marley's "Mr. Brown"--these are the foundations on which Shaggy chooses to build his rhymes, and they are solid ones.
"Heartbreak Suzie" is a typical Shaggy track, with his vocal gyrations providing counterpoint to a smoothly crooned vocal line. He growls, he murmurs, he mixes talk and song to come up with a unique, infectious sound. Shaggy learned a lot from the Jamaican MCs who poured into the neighborhoods, clubs and EARS of New York's hip-hop scene in the early and mid-'80s. He plays with words, popping them, spinning them, sometimes hammering away at them just because he likes the sound of it. Witness his signature tune, "Boombastic." By the end of the song, if you're not saying the title along with him, you need a check-up.
