My 'rollercoaster' career: Shaggy

Shaggy: Revealed plans to tour Europe this summer

Reggae star Shaggy has spoken about his "rollercoaster" career and his struggle to get back to the top of the charts after being dropped by Virgin Records.

He was answering fans' questions during a live webcast on BBC News Online on Tuesday, and also revealed touring plans and answered criticism of his comeback single It Wasn't Me.

"The last 10 years I've been doing this have been a rollercoaster," he said. "The down times are pretty rough."

His last major chart his was Boombastic in 1995, and said that finding a new record deal took a long time.

I totally weathered the storm and found that I am much stronger

Shaggy

"I was basically sacked by Virgin Records," he said. "So I had to get another deal and I wanted to make sure the deal that I was getting was the right one for me.

"I was doing music still, but I was doing soundtracks. The majority of the soundtracks were only released in the US and not in the UK and Europe."

He also described how most in the music industry thought his career was washed up after he was dropped by Virgin.

"There's a certain amount of humility that reaches you when you get dropped from a label because it sends a message to the industry that you're pretty much finished.

"I had to hurdle over that. I totally weathered the storm and found that I am much stronger than that. I'm a totally different person."

'Credibility'

The Jamaican singer - whose real name is Orville Richard Burrell - had a worldwide hit with It Wasn't Me and is currently top of the American album charts with Hot Shot, which has sold more than five million copies in the US.

He answered criticism that he does not sing on much of It Wasn't Me by saying that he wrote the song.

"They can say whatever they want to say, but I don't think there is anyone in the world that could question my credibility," he said.

I do like Napster for the accessibility but it's not regulated and somebody has got to be compensated

Shaggy

"I wrote the song, the whole idea of the song was mine and the direction. It all boils down to the song and it doesn't matter to me who sings more on the song."

He confirmed plans to tour America with the Backstreet Boys in June, and added he is in talks to do the same in Europe.

"But if not, then we will certainly be doing it on our own so it's a win-win situation."

He also described the online song-swapping service Napster as "cool" - but said he should get paid when his songs are downloaded.

"I do like Napster for the accessibility of it but it's not regulated and somebody has got to be compensated. If they do that, it's fine with me. We need to be paid - that's the only thing I don't like about it."