Shaggy and Bruce Melodie return to NYC for national TV performance debut of When She's Around

Celebrated East African artist, Bruce Melodie and dancehall/reggae icon, Shaggy returned to New York City this week for their national television debut performance of their hit collaboration, "When She’s Around (Funga Macho)” on Good Morning America followed by an appearance on Live with Kelly & Mark. Shaggy also sat down yesterday with Ashan Singh for an interview on Nightline to reflect on his path to stardom.

The duo covered the local radio circuit too, visiting with veteran DJ Bobby Konders (Massive B Sound) for an interview that will air on his HOT 97 program this Sunday night, as well as a stop at Power 105 for a live on-air interview with DJ Self and a taped interview with the station’s resident Caribbean music selector DJ Norie that will air Sunday evening. Bruce and Shaggy also met up with another pillar of the NYC reggae community, DJ Roy, for an interview that will air on iHeart's newly launched Carib Star Radio this weekend.

Having amassed over 10 million streams on music services and crossing 120 million views on social media platforms, the infectious rhythm and chemistry between the pair on “When She Comes Around” also propelled the song to register nearly 150,000 Shazam tags.

This week's appearances marked another exciting time in the collaborators’ journey, following a dynamic show at two iHeartRadio Jingle Ball concerts in December. Notably, the Miami performance saw platinum-selling Alt/Pop band AJR, who produced the track, join forces with Shaggy and Bruce for a special rendition of their hit single.

Bruce Melodie is now preparing for the release of new music and plans are underway for a European tour this summer with further details to soon be announced.

ABOUT BRUCE MELODIE:

Born and raised in Kigali, Rwanda, Bruce Melodie has cemented his name into East African music history with his diverse talents as a singer-songwriter, composer, and producer. Renowned for his distinctive blend of R&B, Pop, Afrobeats and Amapiano, Melodie has achieved remarkable success on the African music scene earning a multitude of accolades including multiple wins at The Choice Awards (2021, 2022) as well as participating in the Coke Studio Africa campaign in 2017. He has also won the Superstar Award from Primus Guma Guma, the most prestigious music competition in Rwanda.

ABOUT SHAGGY:

Born Orville Richard Burrell and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Shaggy got his start as an MC in New York City’s burgeoning dancehall scene soon after moving to Brooklyn in his teens. Not long after serving four years in the U.S. Marines (including two tours of duty in the Middle East as part of Operation Desert Storm), he inked his first record deal and quickly scored a global crossover smash with “Oh Carolina.”

As the only diamond-selling dancehall artist in music history, Shaggy, managed by Martin Kierszenbaum/Cherrytree Music Company, has sold more than 40 million album units to date, in addition to landing 8 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and 7 albums on the Billboard 200 (including 4 in the top 40). He has received 2 Grammy Awards and is among the top 3 streamed reggae artists of all time on Spotify.