Shaggy turns down offer to feature on Rihanna’s upcoming album after being told to audition

Legendary Jamaican dancehall star Shaggy has revealed he turned down an offer to feature on Rihanna’s highly anticipated album after he was told he needed to audition to land the spot.

Speaking to Daily Star, the Grammy award-winning musician revealed he was contacted by the Bajan singer’s representatives, but had to say no.

“They approached me for the Rihanna project yeah,” the veteran musician said. “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.”

It appears the 51-year-old, who has contributed immensely towards globalizing the reggae-dancehall genre, however, holds no resentment towards the Diamonds star.

“But from what I hear it should be good,” he said.

He also came to her defense when the topic of certain dancehall enthusiasts calling her out for being one of the artistes diluting the genre was raised.

“It’s healthy competition. Dancehall is in good place but we need as many people to do this art form as possible,” he said. “When it crosses over and becomes popular with artists from other genres and other cultures, that can only be good.”

Rihanna, who has amassed millions of loyal fans through her career, last released an album in 2016. Though on a musical hiatus, the singer has delved into other businesses, successfully launching her Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty lingerie brands within the space of three years.

In 2019, the 31-year-old was named by Forbes as the wealthiest female entertainer with a net worth of $600 million, surpassing huge names in the industry including Madonna ($570 million), Céline Dion ($450 million) and Beyoncé ($400 million).

According to Forbes, Rihanna owes her huge success to her smart move into film, fashion as well as beauty products, slowly moving from collaboration to owning some of the most influential brands in the world.

In 2017, she launched Fenty Beauty earning a reported $100 million in sales in its first few weeks and generated an estimated $570 million in 2018.