Shaggy is doing a soca EP.

Speaking at a press conference to promote Kes the Band’s IzWe Carnival concert, the Grammy-award winner announced the album.

Shaggy, who has a soca collaboration with Kes the Band frontman Kees Dieffenthaller called “Mood”, said the album will also feature soca artistes such as Patrice Roberts, Bunji Garlin, and Skinny Fabulous.

There has been a lot of discussion about soca’s breakthrough to become a mainstream genre, particularly in Jamaica.

Asked about his thoughts on soca’s rise, Shaggy said he thinks there is a good feeling for it. 

“From my experience in music and taking music to a global level the hybrid is where it is, there is no new music in its natural form that will break through unless it is fused with something else,” he said, illustrating his own career and music,” he said.

“To me having a track that is soca-infused is definitely the recipe to break barriers and cross over.”

Shaggy will be among the guest performers at IzWe.

He said their song “Mood” began as a track for his Christmas album, Christmas in the Islands, but it had such as feel-good vibe that it made him go in another direction.

“It just sparked an idea to do it like a soca song and of course, the whole thing was inspired by the feel goodness of it and nobody does that more than Kees currently in the genre. The whole track screamed Kees and I thought why not do a soca EP and that is part of it,” he said, noting that he was attracted to Kees’ music because he goes out of the box.

This is not Shaggy’s first foray into soca.

He has done soca collabs with the likes Allison Hinds and Machel Montano, his first being with Montano on the track “Toro Toro” in 1998.

Shaggy said he is excited to perform in Trinidad as he has not performed during Carnival in a long time.

IzWe takes places on Valentine’s Day, February 14 at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, South Trinidad.