PHOTOS: Shaggy’s Sh237 million Florida home

By Too Jared | 3yrs ago | 2 min read

It Wasn't Me songbird Orville “Shaggy” Burrell, arguably the most successful dancehall and reggae musician of his generation, has purchased a home worth a whopping Sh237 million ($2.15 million) in Florida, reports Los Angeles Times.

Shaggy’s lavish Mediterranean mansion, according to the news outlet, is 'spread over 5,800 square feet in resortlike grounds over a half-acre property located in the affluent Cocoplum community. It boasts a courtyard with a fountain and mermaid statue at the centre. The house enchants with vaulted ceilings and walls of glass. It dazzles with a spacious patio wrapped around a swimming pool and spa, and stuns in a chef kitchen, spacious five bedrooms and outdoor bar'.

Opening up about his journey to stardom in a Sky News interview, the singer, who enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1988, said the military opened his eyes to new opportunities; it gave him an understanding of business, the importance of savings and need for investment.

“It had an impact on me being in the music business because the military was preparing me for everything to do with being successful, and I knew that I was going to have it harder than the average artiste because of the fact that the genre I was in didn’t give me the privileges that other genres did. You know what I’m saying? So if a record company would put marketing money behind a pop act, they’re not going to do that on a reggae act, because there’s no track record of reggae or dancehall working lucratively for them [at that time] to invest that kind of money,” said Shaggy.

Adding: “I would get up really early in the morning, I would work really, really late. And it’s just that kind of discipline. People say you go to the military to learn to fire a gun - I went to the military to learn to balance my cheque book. That’s what that taught me to do. You know, a wise man told me that the windshield is this big and the rear-view mirror is this small, so why focus on the rear-view mirror? I’m really excited about what is coming next. I surround myself with really young producers, I’m fascinated by technology. I’m always listening to new music and trying to create some sort of a hybrid fusion, so to speak, moving forward.”