While watching TheCoolTV, one of the eight channels I get on my television (and an awesome one because they actually show music videos), I stumbled upon Shaggy's “Sugarcane.” First, it was nice to see that Shaggy was back. I was sure he was continuing to make music but he hadn't been seen to me since his mainstream success with “Angel.” I was immediately entranced by “Sugarcane” and its video.
The song is catchy and brings out a great summer vibe. After doing research, the song was released in summer 2011. Clearly, stupid mainstream radio did not want to push this gem out well enough to the public. It did reach high on the Billboard Reggae Charts when it was first released. Given that it did not receive the success I feel it deserved in 2011, I have declared “Sugarcane” my summer jam for 2012.
Shaggy delivers yet again with a great beat and hilarious lyrics. Once you realize that Shaggy does not also produce sugarcane in his spare time, you accept that his tongue and cheek use of the word is both brilliant and gross at the same time. I am captivated by it much like the women in the video.
That brings us to the music video, whose logic is a bit disturbing. Sugarcane has totally taken over this woman's mind. She's loving Jamaica and the taste of the sugarcane. Her father, a clearly wealthy British gentleman, is fed up. She has to come home to continue being a rich daughter. Don't worry. The mother will go and get her daughter. But, oh no, now the mother has fallen victim to a cab driver's sugarcane (which, let's be honest, is a lower form of sugarcane than that of Shaggy's sugarcane)! I must say that the part where the mother eats the sugarcane is a little too symbolic and uncomfortable. Well, no one is returning the rich father's calls. He must now go to Jamaica (this family is really rich. They don't give a damn about how much money they spend on trips to Jamaica). Somehow, on the entire island, he manages to find his wife in a secluded area enjoying the sugarcane. Nothing is resolved in the end other than to say that Shaggy has easily destroyed a family. If we've learned anything, it's that you don't allow your daughter to go to Jamaica. That damn sugarcane!
Destruction and laughter have long been what Shaggy does best. You can never forget this gem, one of my favorites in random conversational songs:
I'm glad to see Shaggy still going strong. He's the best. I hope they make a movie about him, which if so, I feel like it could star this man, someone I thought was just as cool as Shaggy when I was a kid:
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