The 'Stay' hitmaker sets the record straight on the claims that she asked the dancehall artist to go through selection process to be featured on her next album.

• Jan 14, 2020

AceShowbiz - Rihanna cleared up the air amid rumors that she asked Shaggy to audition for her new album. "We are working on an album, not a talent show, so why would she (Rihanna) require Shaggy or any other artist to audition?" her rep said on Jamaica Irie FM.

The dancehall musician previously said he was approached by RiRi's camp and offered a chance to collaborate with her but he turned it down because he needed to go through a selection process.

"They approached me for the Rihanna project yeah," he said. "There's a lot of great people involved but for me I didn't need to audition to be on the record, I'll leave that to younger guys. But from what I hear it should be good."

RiRi's people denied his claims, insisting she didn't approach him. It was he who contacted her first, they said. "After Rihanna had already gathered all the material for the album, Shaggy contacted her asking to be a part of the album. She explained to him that the album was much completed and they were just working on mixing, mastering and deciding which songs to actually use," the rep explained.

"However, she invited him to submit some materials so she could see if it fists with the flow of the album. That was by no means asking for an audition, it was more going out of her way to get him on the album."

"We hope Shaggy will come out and let the fans know the real truth because we all know that the media in general and especially entertainment media cannot be trusted. They will twist someone stories in order to get the most viewers," her camp added.

"Rihanna loves the people of Jamaica, she loves the fans of Reggae and she loves Reggae music as her career has proven and nothing can or will ever change that."