| "It Wasn't Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Shaggy featuring RikRok | ||||
| from the album Hot Shot | ||||
| B-side | "Dance & Shout" | |||
| Released | 7 November 2000 | |||
| Studio | Ranch (Valley Stream, New York) | |||
| Genre | Reggae[1] | |||
| Length | 3:47 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Shaun "Sting" Pizzonia | |||
| Shaggy singles chronology | ||||
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| RikRok singles chronology | ||||
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"It Wasn't Me" is the first single from Jamaican-American reggae musician Shaggy's fifth studio album, Hot Shot (2000). The song features vocals from British-Jamaican singer RikRok (credited as Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent). The lyrics of the song depict one man (portrayed by RikRok) asking his friend (portrayed by Shaggy) what to do after his girlfriend caught him cheating on her with "the girl next door". His friend/Shaggy's character's advice is to deny everything, despite clear evidence to the contrary, with the phrase "It wasn't me."
"It Wasn't Me" was serviced to US contemporary hit radio on 7 November 2000 and has been regarded as Shaggy's breakthrough in the pop market. It is his highest-charting song to date, topping the charts in Australia, Flanders, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was the best-selling single of 2001 in the UK, selling over 1.15 million copies that year[2] and over 1.42 million as of 2017[update].
- ^ Billboard Staff (19 October 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
One of the most enduring songs about cheating — specifically the denial of it — and another early '00s reggae crossover smash...
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
UK year-endwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).