Some may think the musical collaboration between Sting and Shaggy is a bit random, but the way the musicians came to work with one another is straight-up bonkers.
On Tuesday, the two men were on the “The Tonight Show” to promote their new album “44/876,” a title that combines the country code for both England and Jamaica, where Sting and Shaggy hail from, respectively.
Host Jimmy Fallon asked the artists how they met in the first freakin’ place.
Shaggy began to tell Fallon that, a few years ago, they performed live onstage together, but Sting cut him off to relay the real truth — Shaggy apparently crashed one of his performances.
“He just walked onstage,” Sting told Fallon. “During ‘Roxanne.’”
“What?!” Fallon screamed.
“I thought it was Sean Paul,” Sting joked.
Shaggy went on to explain that despite the abrupt way the two met, they ended up having a good rapport with one another. Shaggy eventually asked Sting to offer his vocals to a track he was working on. In the studio, the duo realized that their voices blended really well together and the rest was history.
Although the two seem like a strange pairing, they actually share a lot in common musically. Sting has stated in the past that the Police were inspired by reggae music, which derives from Jamaica, where the “It Wasn’t Me” and “Boombastic” musician is from.
Sting told the Sun that thanks to their similar tastes in music, he and Shaggy had great artistic chemistry.
“People are surprised but when they hear the record, they’ll be even more surprised because it actually works,” he said.
To check out one of the songs from “44/876,” just watch the video below: