Intoxication is the eighth studio album by Jamaican rapper Shaggy. It was released on 22 October 2007 through VP Records. Recording sessions took place at Big Yard Studios and Ranch Studio in New York, Jungle Studio and Judgement Yard Studio in Jamaica, The House and Circle House Studios in Florida. Production was handled by Sting Int'l, Tony "CD" Kelly, Christopher "Longman" Birch, Robert Livingston, Dwayne Shippy and Goldenchyl. It features guest appearances from Na'sha, Akon, Collie Buddz, Mischieve, Rayvon, Rik Rok, Sizzla and Tony Gold.
The album did not received major chart success, only reaching number 82 in France, number 95 in Switzerland, number 30 on the UK Independent Albums and atop of the US Billboard Reggae Albums charts. It was re-issued in September 2008 to include additional tracks, remixes and music videos. Four singles were released from the album: "Church Heathen", "Bonafide Girl", "Feel the Rush", the official single for UEFA Euro 2008 (which only appears on the subsequent re-issue of the album) and "What's Love".[1]
Intoxication was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 76 based on seven reviews.[2]
AllMusic's David Jeffries praised the album, stating: "with Intoxication, Shaggy has once again found that perfect balance of slick and streetwise, and added career-defining single number three as the cherry on top".[1] Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly found it "his best tune is an amigo-free one--the spare, glitchy title track. Gotta give the old dog credit for new tricks".[3] Ben Westhoff of The Boston Phoenix wrote: "from 'Intoxication' (a tale of sexual regret) to 'Church Heathen' (about hypocrisy in the church), the lyrics are more stimulating than your typical dancehall fare, and the beats are elegant and catchy".[5]
In mixed reviews, Now contributor found "his intentions sound pure, but Shaggy's musical moonshine will leave all but the biggest fans with a heavy hangover".[4]
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