Shaggy & Sting Said Reggae Cover Album Is 3 Years In The Making

The reggae/dancehall legend and his close friend Sting are back with another exciting collaboration, Com Fly Wid Mi, an 11-track album that features a title song that samples the legendary Frank Sinatra. The Rock icon and Shaggy have shared a long friendship which includes previous music collaborations and work done for the Shaggy Foundation. the new album is produced by Sting, who is a 17-time Grammy-winning artist. Shaggy appears in the title song, “Come Fly with Me,” where he sings the Sinatra song hook reggae style. The artists sat down to discuss how the song came about while they were on tour a few years ago. “It’s us getting together and doing some crazy shit because we enjoy that and we like to shock people and we literally are both allergic to boredom,” Shaggy joked about how the song idea was born in a video Q&A sent Shaggy also added that he was exposed to the music of artists like Frank Sinatra from an early age sparking his love for the artist and his tunes. “I’ve always been a Sinatra fan as I am a Sting fan or a Paul Simon fan. I love music in general well you know that about me, Frank has been in my home as a child. I don’t know if you noticed but Jamaica is probably around 20 years we started having Irie FM where they played all reggae. It used to be on Sundays in my household with my grandmother Frank Sinatra was a big thing and in Jamaica on Sundays was the day when you heard Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole also playing.”

Meanwhile, Sting also spoke about the decision to do a reggae sample of the song. “It’s never been done before doing this song in a reggae style and it’s no point in just trying to make a record like Frank Sinatra,” Sting said. “None of us can sing that way. It was a genius idea what’s the point in trying to reproduce that. The reggae thing was a completely different take on this and it’s obviously a big risk but so far we’ve had great fun and the song has a lovely energy about it.” According to the artists, the new album features reggae interpretations of some of ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ most beloved songs, kicking off with “That’s Life,” followed by “Come Fly with Me.”