It’s just his second visit to India, but Shaggy believes he’s got “curries in his bones”. The man who was named after the character in Scooby-Doo is in the country for the non-stop 12-hour Channel [V] concert in Mumbai on Sunday.

The last time the reggae king was here was in 1996, but these two trips have been enough for Shaggy to check out many things Indian. “It’s a very, very nice place,” he says in characteristic Jamaican accent, on gig-eve.

“The people are great, the food is great and you have great concerts here.” A pause later comes the reaction from the man whose videos are home to bodies beautiful: “The women are wonderful and I would love to get them out of their saris!”

But is it the real Shaggy we see besieged by hot bods on sunny beaches and rapping to Boombastic? Coming from a man who joined the United States Marine Corps and served during Operation Desert Storm, aren’t the songs a tad too frivolous? “I am as real as I want myself to be. Then again, I can be me if I want to be. But people, I guess, are interested to see the other me,” says the man, after considerable thought.

Shaggy’s latest album Clothes Drop hasn’t lived up to expectations and he knows it. “It is doing as good as any album will do without a hit track,” is how he puts it. “None of the singles has really taken off. But it does have my all-time favourite song Would You Be A Friend?”

So is he planning to make a splash with another movie song like he did with Oh Carolina (Sliver), Love Me, Love Me (How Stella Got Her Groove Back) and Hope (For Love Of The Game)? “I just want to do more music,” Shaggy says. “It can be a film soundtrack or a full-length album. I will start my next album as soon as I finish my current round of touring and marketing Clothes Drop.”

The best of Shaggy has always come in collaboration with another artiste. Whether it is with Chaka Khan (Get My Party On) or Ali G (Me Julie) or Natasha Watkins (Ultimatum). “I really love collaborations,” the man admits. “I like my voice when it comes in contrast with another singer. My favourite collaborator, though, has been Rayvon with whom I have sung chartbusters like In The Summertime and Angel.”

So does Shaggy have something special up his sleeve for his Indian fans? “I will just be doing my hits, man. That’s all they like to hear,” comes the matter-of-fact line.