Shaggy on making Super Bowl music for Jeep and the 2023 game's Caribbean flair

As Stellantis Global Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois was plotting a 2023 Super Bowl ad, he put a call into Shaggy. “They were doing the ‘Electric Boogie’ for their new electric Jeep,” said the reggae superstar, referencing the 1980s dance music hit. “And I think he realized how culturally right he had to get it and got in touch with me about it and just asked me if I would get involved.”

Not only did Shaggy say yes, but he ended up collaborating on a remake with fellow Jamaican Marcia Griffiths, whose 1983 version of “Electric Boogie” propelled the song into widespread popularity, including as the soundtrack for the “Electric Side” line dance that is frequently performed at weddings. 

While the duo does not appear in the ad—which was released today ahead of the game—their vocals power the spot, which features elephants, giraffes, meerkats, a walrus, a snake and a sloth dancing alongside two electric Jeeps—the Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe. Shaggy and Griffiths are joined on the track by up-and-coming music artists Jamila Falak, Amber Lee and Moyann, a singer who has been described as “the next big” thing in the Jamaican music genre known as dancehall. 

Tell us more about how the “Electric Boogie” remake came together.

Once [Francois] got in touch with me about it, I said, ‘Hey, I know how to make this happen.’ I'm good friends with Griffiths. So I called Marcia and asked if she would be involved in it. And she was totally … very excited.

We came up with an idea to have a situation where she's ‘passing the baton’ and so we put three emerging acts that are happening in Jamaica—Amber Lee, Jamila Falak and Moyann, who is an up-and-coming dancehall artist. These girls are very popular within Jamaica, you know, and it was great to have a platform be available to them.

When you were recording the song, did you use video of the ad to instruct the tune in any way?

I worked with a video, yeah. It wasn't the full thing. It was kind of a mock-up of what the video would have been like. 

How tricky was it timing the song to the ad?

The mock-up that they gave us, once we got the groove in, it kind of worked really, really well. Of course, they had to do some tweaking afterwards, but it really kind of worked very, very well. So I think we lucked out there. And I wanted it to have a modern dance feel and then we had to check the tempo. It really magically worked for us.

You were in a Super Bowl ad a couple of years ago for Cheetos. What does that exposure do for your career?

I mean, it's always good to know that you're on television. On that particular one, it was ‘It Wasn't Me’ which was a really big record already. [The Super Bowl] certainly keeps you visible. The Super Bowl is always a great platform to be on.

It used to be that musical acts that did songs for brands were accused of selling out. That is no longer the case, right?

I don't really think it’s much of a sellout these days. I think it's all part of what we use as a tool to make your brand become bigger.

Do you think the Super Bowl could be a nice moment for reggae, bringing this song to an audience of 100 million people?

Absolutely. I think it’s a very good moment for the culture of Caribbean music. Rihanna [who is starring in the halftime show] is a Caribbean. She does pop music, but she does represent Caribbean culture. And Sheryl Lee Ralph [who will perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing” during the pregame] is well-known as a Jamaican actress.

Ad Age recently analyzed diversity in Super Bowl ads, both in front of the camera and behind. We found that it was still lacking. What is your opinion on the status of diversity in advertising?

Well, there's always more that could be done. You know, I think we have definitely seen changes as we evolve over the years, and we're heading in the right direction. But I'm always for more diversity and as much of it as possible. With Jeep, they were very, very keen on that. And they wanted to be inclusive. And so yeah, I'm very happy to be a part of it. And that was one of the reasons for me coming on board.