According to Shag’s claim: “[Rihanna’s team] approached me for the Rihanna project. 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.”

However, there appears to have been some miscommunication between the two camps now that an alleged representative from Rih’s team shut down the reggae-fusion icon’s claim on Monday (Jan. 13). The  individual for Rihanna reportedly spoke with the Jamaica Irie FM morning show where they shared Rih’s side of the story, according to music blog 18 Karat Reggae. “We are working on an album, not a talent show, so why would [Rihanna] require Shaggy or any other artist to audition?” the representative asked.

RELATED: Shaggy Passed On Chance To Appear On Rihanna’s New Album Because He Didn’t Want To Audition

The representative continued, “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 pretty much completed and they were just working on mixing, mastering and deciding which songs to actually use.” 

The spokesperson clarified Rih extended Shaggy an open invitation to send over some music, regardless, to see if she could work something out.

Additionally, the representative emphasized that Rih bore no hard feelings toward Shaggy. However, they “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.” 

“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,” the spokesperson concluded.

Well, at least we know one thing is for sure now that the album is almost wrapped: R9 will finally be in our hands (and ears) any day now.