It was announced back in January that Sting and Shaggy had recorded a joint album titled 44/876 via A&M/Interscope Records. The record is slated to be released on 4/20/18 and they have now released a new single along with the albums cover-art and full track-listing.
Sting & Shaggy – 44/876 Track-list:
1.) 44/876 (feat. Morgan Heritage & Aidonia)
2.) Morning Is Coming
3.) Waiting For The Break Of Day
4.) Gotta Get Back My Baby
5.) Don’t Make Me Wait
6.) Just One Lifetime
7.) 22nd Street
8.) Dreaming In The USA
9.) Crooked Tree
10.) To Love And Be Loved
11.) Sad Trombone
12.) Night Shift
Deluxe Edition Tracks:
13.) If You Can’t Find Love
14.) Love Changes Everything
15.) 16 Fathoms
16.) Don’t Make Me Wait (Dave Audé Rhythmic Radio Remix)
The 12 track album will include a Deluxe Edition with 4 additional songs. The only listed features come from Morgan Heritage and Aidonia. I was able to catch up with Morgan Heritage’s Mojo Morgan to discuss how they came to be a part of this record as he tells The Pier: “Working with Shaggy comes second nature for us. As fellow Brooklynites, we’ve collaborated on each others projects for well over a decade now. So when we were invited to listen to his new project with Sting, it was an organic vibe that brought about us being featured on the title track. The Police and Sting are a massive influence on me as I covered ‘Roxanne’ on my 2009 ‘Got Mojo EP.'”
Morgan Heritage is featured on the albums titled track 44/876 to which Mojo continues telling The Pier: “When Shaggy told us the title of the album before hearing the song, for us it reiterated the connection between Jamaica and England that goes back 5 decades. The title is the country codes of both countries and these two brothers are two of the best patriots from both countries.”
The first Sting & Shaggy song they released with the announcement of the project in January was “Don’t Make Me Wait” that followed with a music video in February. Now they’ve revealed the cover-art and track-listing, along with another new song “Morning is Coming.”
It’s a mellow, upbeat reggae track with soulful singing by Sting and some light toasting by Shaggy — They performed the song live on March 9th via ABC’s Good Morning America. Sting even applies some minor Jamaican patois into his vocal delivery as he conforms to the vibrations of the song in tandem with his counter-part in Shaggy.
[Related: Sting & Shaggy To Release Island Influenced Record, 44/876]
In creating this record, the duo had some help in the studio from musicians and writers based out of New York and Jamaica. These artists include Robbie Shakespeare of Sly and Robbie, dancehall sensation Aidonia, DJ Agent Sasco and Sting’s longtime guitarist, Dominic Miller as well as writers Tyrantula, Dwayne “iLLwayno” Shippy, Shane “Gold Tips” Hoosong, Machine Gun Funk and Patexx.
Sting and Shaggy were introduced through each-others representatives and it was after Sting heard the music Shaggy was working on that they decided to collaborate. Initially, they only had plans to release the one single together, but rode a wave of creativity that found them spending a few weeks in New York City, resulting in a full length record.
The duo plan to tour Europe following the albums 4/20 release — No word on if or when they’ll tour the US. You can pre-order your copy of 44/876 by clicking HERE!
Listen: Sting & Shaggy – “Morning Is Coming”
Related Links:
Sting Website
Sting Facebook
Shaggy Website
Shaggy Facebook
Article By: Mike Patti
Watch: Sting & Shaggy – “Don’t Make Me Wait”