Weezer (ft. Shaggy) - Island In The Sun (Dancehall Pop Version)

What if...Weezer made a Dancehall Pop summer smash? Imagine, if you will, an alternative universe, not unlike our own. It's 2001, and Weezer are about to release their long-awaited follow up to 1996's commercially disastrous 'Pinkerton'. The band have reunited with 'Blue Album' producer, Ric Ocasek in search of a more polished sound, and Rivers Cuomo has consciously simplified his writing and purged his lyrics of the personal, confessional elements that helped make 'Pinkerton' so compelling to a relatively-small group of fans and off-putting to the general public. The overall product is reassuringly inoffensive, but Geffen executives remain nervous. What the album needs, they decide, is a surefire summer smash hit to launch the album. The band, eager to regain commercial momentum, agree to do whatever it takes. The song selected for this treatment is 'Island in the Sun', purely because it has the word 'sun' in the title. To evoke a sunny island atmosphere, the song is reworked into a pop-dancehall style, and topped off with a guest appearance from Shaggy, whose 'It Wasn't Me' has just been an international hit.
The collaboration is a massive success and an inescapable presence on the radio for the entire summer of 2001. There is a minor controversy, when critics point out that Shaggy's verses are lifted word-for-word from his 1995 cover of Mungo Jerry's 'In The Summertime'. Shaggy sheepishly admits to re-using the verses, saying he thought the record would flop and no-one would ever notice! Despite this, the record is a multi-platinum smash. However, while it gains Weezer legions of new pop fans, it destroys their credibility with their original rock fanbase. Nevertheless, this one mega hit is enough to set them up for life, and to this day, is guaranteed to be heard before long at any summer beach party!
Written by Rivers Cuomo
I do not own the copyright to the song, Rivers' and Shaggy's vocal tracks, or any of the clips used. Backing track performed, arranged and produced by me, using GarageBand and whatever instruments came to hand.
I started by syncing the isolated vocal tracks to the grid, which was quite tricky, as I was combining two different songs in different tempos. However, I got there in the end, and pitch-shifted Shaggy's vocal into key. I then programmed the drums and a very subby 808 bass sound. Over this, I layered synths, piano, pretend midi acoustic guitars, actual electric guitars, horns and marimba (using the BBSO Discovery sample pack). For a final bit of texture, I threw in conga and shaker loops, and a few cymbal swells at key points. And there you have it - the perfect tacky soundtrack to an early-2000s summer!
For more nerdy recording insights, musical discussion and general rambling, you can watch a companion video here: • Giving Weezer's 'Islan...
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