“It Wasn’t Me” is the first single from Jamaican-American reggae musician Shaggy’s fifth studio album, Hot Shot (2000). The song features vocals from RikRok (credited as Rickardo “RikRok” Ducent). The lyrics of the song depict one man (RikRok) asking his friend (Shaggy) what to do after his girlfriend caught him cheating on her with “the girl next door”. His friend’s advice is to deny everything, despite clear evidence to the contrary, with the phrase “It wasn’t me.”
“It Wasn’t Me” was released to contemporary hit radio on 7 November 2000 and has been regarded as Shaggy’s breakthrough in the pop market. It is his highest-charting song to date, topping the charts in Australia, Flanders, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It was the best-selling single of 2001 in the UK, selling over 1.15 million copies that year and over 1.42 million as of 2017.
