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Shaggy says Sean Paul is “the biggest Dancehall artist of all time,” but he is pushing back against the narrative that Sean’s Diamond-certified hit with Sia makes him a Diamond-selling artist.
“I am still the only Dancehall artist that is Diamond-selling. Sorry,” he recently told BBC1xtra’s Seani B, seemingly referring to his 2000 album Hot Shot.
The comment came as Shaggy addressed what he described as false narratives around artists and sales numbers. One example, he said, was Sia and Sean Paul’s 2016 hit Cheap Thrills, which was certified Diamond in the US in January this year after it surpassed 11 million units.
Since the RIAA recognizes featured artists for the award, several outlets, including DancehallMag and Billboard, reported that it was Sean Paul’s first song to reach the milestone. Meanwhile, The Tropixs described Sean as the first Jamaican artist with a Diamond single, and Questimes said he had made history.
“The other day them try spin a narrative say, ‘Oh, Sean has now gone Diamond, is the first Diamond-selling Dancehall artist.’ First of all, it’s not Sean’s song,” Shaggy said. “Second of all, I’m not cutting anything, because Sean is the last person I’m going to cut, because that guy works.”
He said Cheap Thrills was still “a great accomplishment” for Sean Paul, but argued that the distinction matters. “It’s a single that was her single, you know what I mean? And he was featured on it,” he said.
The It Wasn’t Me singer made it clear that he was not trying to diminish Sean Paul’s own standing in Dancehall. “By right, I’m here to tell you he is the biggest Dancehall artist of all time, 100%,” he said. “The numbers that he’s doing now… collectively, this guy has done his streaming numbers and what he has done is great.”
Shaggy’s Hot Shot album has long been reported to have sold more than 10 million units globally. That figure, however, comes with some nuance.
There is no single certification body for worldwide album sales; certifications are issued market by market. Officially, Hot Shot is certified 6X Platinum in the US, where the RIAA recognized it for six million units in 2001.
The reason Hot Shot has not been updated beyond 6X Platinum may be administrative rather than commercial. RIAA certifications are not automatically revised when a title’s consumption grows; the record label has to apply, provide supporting sales data, and pay for an audit. MCA Records, which released Hot Shot, was later folded into Geffen Records under Universal Music Group in 2003, so any new certification request would likely have to come from the current rights holder rather than MCA itself.
According to Billboard’s sales tracker Luminate, the album’s actual US consumption has since reached 8.8 million units as of 2025. The album has also been certified 3X Platinum in the UK for 900,000 units, 7X Platinum in Canada for 700,000 units, Platinum in Germany for 300,000 units, 4X Platinum in Australia for 280,000 units, and Gold in Japan for 110,000 units.
Shaggy had brought up the Diamond issue while explaining the thinking behind God Is Amazing, the opening track from his new album Lottery. Seani B asked whether the song was aimed at his detractors, and Shaggy said the reading was right, though no single person was the target.
“It’s collective people,” he replied.
He said that some people now create false narratives around artists and their achievements, and then treat those narratives as fact.
“I see that all the while with [sales] numbers,” he said.
“People nowadays, it’s a new way of doing things, where them just put out something or create a narrative. Doesn’t have to be truth, there’s no facts within it, and then they’ll kind of erase everything that you’ve done as if it didn’t happen.”
He said God Is Amazing, which features Mutabaruka and Vanessa Amorosi, speaks directly to that kind of dismissal.
“For me, [God Is Amazing] really kind of touches on people who try to erase your legacy, if there’s such a thing,” he told Seani B. “Or try to downplay you to make themselves feel better. They’ll make Shaggy and Shaggy’s numbers and what Shaggy has done seem like nothing so that they could look bigger.”
Then he drew the line more bluntly.
“At the end of the day, no, you need to come beat me. That’s why I say, you’re not taking me out, you have to beat me. Because that’s the only way the genre move.”
Shaggy’s Hot Shot spent six weeks at No. 1 on Billboard 200 while fending off major US debuts, and also produced the Hot 100 No. 1 singles It Wasn’t Me and Angel. Official Charts also credits him with four UK No. 1 singles — Oh Carolina, Boombastic, It Wasn’t Me, and Angel — and notes that Hot Shot was also a UK No. 1 album.
He pointed to those milestones while arguing that his accomplishments should not be brushed aside.
“I’m sorry, I am just that. None oonu nuh beat me,” he said.
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