“It Wasn’t Me” turns 20: Shaggy looks back on his megahit single, and talks new Super Bowl ad
Shaggy's megahit "It Wasn't Me" was ubiquitous in 2000, you simply could not avoid it. Now, 20 years later, it's coming back thanks to a new Cheetos Super Bowl ad starring the musician, Ashton Kutcher, and Mila Kunis. The singer/songwriter recently spoke with Yahoo Entertainment about the origin of the song and its enduring popularity.
"I got that from Eddie Murphy's 'Raw,'" Shaggy says of the comedian's legendary stand-up special. "He had done this skit where he's talking about it wasn't me. And I just thought it was great. I thought it was very relatable."
While the hook of the song is highly infectious, Shaggy raps his verses in Jamaican patois, which proved harder for an American audience to grasp.
"That's the beauty of the song!" he says. "That'll make you go back and start playing it over and over and over again so that you could get into it."
Video Transcript
[MUSIC - SHAGGY, "IT WASN'T ME]
SHAGGY: (SINGING) She saw the marks on my shoulder. It wasn't me. Heard the words that I told her. It wasn't me. Heard the screams getting louder. It wasn't me. She stayed until it was over.
KEVIN POLOWY: It's been 20 years since "It Wasn't Me" started burning up the charts, which I truly cannot believe. What is the origin of that song? Like, is it based on a true story?
SHAGGY: I got that from Eddie Murphy's "Raw." He had done a skit where he was talking about it wasn't me, and, you know, I just thought it was great. I thought it was very relatable.
EDDIE MURPHY: Walked in the kitchen and said, what the hell was you doing in that bitch's house today? Know what the man said? Wasn't me.
[LAUGHTER]
SHAGGY: Whether you're young, old, black, white, straight, gay, you just-- You know, it was-- it was relatable. And I just thought I wanted to put a little humor. There's always a little bit of humor in all my music, and I created it because it was just a great story and a great vibe and a fun record. And it just kind of took off.
KEVIN POLOWY: Have you used that line in real life?
SHAGGY: I never had to.
KEVIN POLOWY: No.
SHAGGY: [LAUGHS]
KEVIN POLOWY: Have you found over the years that, like, people outside of Jamaica have trouble with, like, what most of the actual verse lyrics are? Because I'm a DJ, right? And I feel like everyone sings the hook at the beginning. It's like, all this time she was standing there. She never took her eyes off me. And then when the verse comes in--
[MUSIC - SHAGGY, "IT WASN'T ME"]
SHAGGY: (SINGING) --your woman access to your villa. Trespasser and a witness while you cling to your pillow.
Naba, naba, naba [LAUGHS]
KEVIN POLOWY: Exactly.
SHAGGY: But that's the beau-- that's the beauty of the song, man, is it's-- It'll make you go back and start playing it over and over and over again.
KEVIN POLOWY: Yep.
SHAGGY: So that you could get into it, and that's kind of what we did. We, you know-- You have to have that authenticity of dancehall and bringing-- That's the culture. That's the culture on the song there itself is [INAUDIBLE] and raw Patois, and having you play it over a couple of times just to kind of get what I'm saying, you know? But that hook was infectious, and it drew you in.
KEVIN POLOWY: Did you have any idea it was going to blow like that, or did that-- was that a complete surprise for you?
SHAGGY: I knew it was a special record, and that's why I fought for it, you know? The label didn't want it on there. My manager really didn't like the record. But I knew it was a special record. I tried to give it away a couple of times to different artists.
But it ended up coming back to me when Hans, our A & R, our new A & R, walked in and said, hey, I think that's the hit. You know, and we ended up keeping it on the record. But no one could predict what the longevity of it and what it's been doing now and how it's resonating with this younger generation, you know? You can't predict that. It's just one of those things.
KEVIN POLOWY: I mean the song turned out to be, you know, kind of like, by nature obviously, like, an infidelity anthem. Like, did you ever catch any grief for it from, like, the women in your life?
SHAGGY: You know, it's a funny story about that. When we put the record out, we were getting a lot of hate kind of situation from, you know, women's group and whatnot. And then we realized, after a while, when we looked at the sale, it was predominantly women that bought the record [LAUGHS]
KEVIN POLOWY: Really? Interesting.
SHAGGY: So, you know, who knows? You know, they say women do things better than men every day.
[MUSIC - SHAGGY, "IT WASN'T ME"]
(SINGING) If she asks where they are, you say, forget and never admit to a word, and please don't upset her. And if should keep on snacking, I guess you let her.
- Well, did you?
- Wasn't me.
KEVIN POLOWY: The ad not only stars you, but also, of course, celebrity couple of Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis. What was it like to watch them sort of parody their relationship?
SHAGGY: It is so amazing. You know, I could see-- You could see why there are a couple, you know? The chemistry between them is just amazing. At that moment, you realize why "That '70s Show" was such an amazing hit, and they brought that same sauce to this commercial.
You know, this is a guy that married his best friend, and you could tell that it, you know, chemistry-wise, it worked very well. They, you know, they were laughing constantly, totally cracking in each other constantly. I was just there like a sponge. You know, I was just a student because I'm in their arena, and I was just there just soaking it all up.
KEVIN POLOWY: And you guys remixed the song, of course. How did you-- How would you rate Ashton's singing?
SHAGGY: Ashton did his thing, but I'm about to give him a contract. I might need a collab [LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
