Hot Shot

1	Hot Shot 3:47
2	Lonely Lover 3:46
3	Dance & Shout 3:47
4	Leave It to Me 3:37
5	Angel 3:55
6	Hope / Mister Mydas 3:47
7	Keep'n It Real 3:54
8	Luv Me, Luv Me 3:36
9	Freaky Girl / The Kraft 3:44
10	It Wasn't Me / Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent 3:47
11	Not Fair / Rude 3:47
12	Hey Love 4:01
13	Why Me Lord? 3:35
14	Chica Bonita / Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent Bonus Track 4:04

Barnes & Noble

Shaggy has been making dancehall fans out of folks who'd never be caught dead inside the dancehall since his smash remake of "Oh Carolina" back in 1993. Seven years on, the Jamaican-born, Brooklyn-bred MC is still hoeing the road between pure pop and reggae, looking for another windfall like "Boombastic," the single that propelled him to fame. Hotshot plays crossover with a vengeance: "Dance and Shout" marries Shaggy's lascivious drawl to Michael Jackson's "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"; "Lonely Lover," produced by R&B team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, invokes the classic "I Just Don't Wanna Be Lonely"; and "Angel" which features Shaggy's crossover bredren Rayvon, borrows most improbably from Juice Newton's "Angel of the Morning." And that's only the first half of the album. To Shaggy's credit, the bonus track "Chica Bonita" is not a de riguer Latin fusion, but a jazzy piece of dancehall that shows he's still crafting cunning new ways to bring dancehall to the masses. And from the infectious "Freaky Girl," where Shaggy rides a disco-era beat, and the bounce-style title cut, the amiable MC finds himself at home in whatever setting his production team concocts. His dapper ease will satisfy fans all over again. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

Shaggy's fourth album is a classic hybrid of reggae, R&B, and pop. Following duets with Maxi Priest ("That Girl") and Janet Jackson ("Luv Me, Luv Me"), the Jamaica native teams up with master producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and a myriad of talented guest vocalists who complement his personality on each track. Coming with the minor hit "Hope" from 1999's For Love of the Game soundtrack, the first couple of singles, "Dance and Shout" (featuring a Michael Jackson sample) and "It Wasn't Me," show the strengths of this album -- they are smart, warm, and playful. Shaggy's persona is hard to not like. On "It Wasn't Me," a friend laments being caught by his girl with another woman; Shaggy continually advises him to flatly deny it. To be able to use that sentiment and still seem likable is a gift. There are such heavy samples, some of the tracks almost sound like remakes at points, but there is such originality and gifted wordplay that the combination works as opposed to seeming unoriginal -- something most rappers can't seem to accomplish. Each song on Hot Shot from the opening title track on is different, inviting, and infectious. ~ Bryan Buss, All Music Guide