"Shy Guy" is a song by Jamaican recording artist and songwriter

Diana King Diana King (born 8 November 1970) is a Jamaican-American singer-songwriter who performs a mixture and fusion of reggae, reggae fusion and dancehall. They were born to an Indo-Jamaican mother and an Afro-Jamaican father. They are best known f ...

for the movie soundtrack album '' Bad Boys''. It also appeared on King's debut studio album, ''

Tougher Than Love ''Tougher Than Love'' is the debut album by Jamaican-American singer-songwriter Diana King. The album peaked at No. 179 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, No. 85 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Top Reggae Albums chart. It featur ...

'' (1995). The song was written by King, Kingsley Gardner and Andy Marvel, who produced the song as well. It was released by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

worldwide in 1995 as the lead single from ''Tougher Than Love''. The song contains a sample from "

School Boy Crush "School Boy Crush" is a song from Average White Band's 1975 album, '' Cut the Cake''. It has been heavily sampled in hip hop, rap and R&B songs such as:. #" Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" by TLC #" Wanna B Where U R (Thisizzaluvsong)" by Floetry #"Watch M ...

" by

Average White Band The Average White Band (also known as AWB) are a Scottish funk and R&B band that had a series of soul and disco hits between 1974 and 1980. They are best known for their million-selling instrumental track " Pick Up the Pieces", and their album ...

. The song received positive reviews from music critics, with many saying it was a definite highlight of the album and calling it one of the best

reggae fusion Reggae fusion is a genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic and latin. Origin Although artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as ...

songs of its time.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said the song was a highlight of both the soundtrack and King's debut album. "Shy Guy" also received chart success. The song peaked at number thirteen in the United States and went to number two in the United Kingdom. It topped the charts in Finland, Sweden and Zimbabwe and became a top-five hit in several other countries, including Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway.

Critical reception

Devon Jackson from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' picked "Shy Guy" as a standout on the Bad Boys soundtrack, complimenting it as "a seamless merging of

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

and

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

." Dave Sholin from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The pu ...

'' stated that King's artistry "will be discovered by the masses who hear this song via the airwaves and the soundtrack of the new

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

and

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on ''Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American comedian and actor. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor. He got his start playin ...

film, Bad Boys. Hot tune, hot movie and a lot of airplay—that'll work!" Bianca Gracie from ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'' noted that "the breezy mid-tempo dance tune features sassy lyrics that are peppered with patois inflections that urge women everywhere to realize they deserve more than what these f*ck boys are offering." A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' said that "Miss King provides prospect for the no-hopers. Move over fly guys, Diana wants a shy guy. Within the context of a mix of

ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Sm ...

and swingbeat, she joyfully sings and raps about the timid type." Stephen Meade from ''The Network Forty'' wrote that "reggae flava with ultra-smooth vocals lead us to a hook we can't forget." Rune Slyngstad from Norwegian newspaper '' Nordlandsposten'' described the song as "pulsating and catchy".

Chart performance

"Shy Guy" was released as the lead single on both King's album and the soundtrack of '' Bad Boys''. The song received charting success worldwide. The song debuted at number thirty-five on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and later peaked at number three, staying at the position for three consecutive weeks. The song later debuted at number twenty-eight on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. After seventeen weeks, it peaked at number three for one week. The song peaked at number thirteen on the US ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and number twenty-one on the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart. It was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), selling over 500,000 copies in the US. The song also had success in Europe. It debuted at number six on the

Swiss Singles Chart The Swiss Hitparade (german: link=no, Schweizer Hitparade) is Switzerland's main Record chart, music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland. The Swiss charts include: * ...

, then peaked at number five for three consecutive weeks. It debuted at number thirty on the

Austrian Singles Chart Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

, and rose to number six for one week. The song later debuted at number twenty-seven on the

French Singles Chart French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

and rose to peak at number four, staying there for two consecutive weeks. The song was certified silver in France, selling over 125,000 copies there. The song reached number one on two charts. It debuted at number twenty-seven in Sweden before rising to number one for one week, while in Finland, the song remained at number one for four non-consecutive weeks. It also peaked at number two in Norway, staying there for seven consecutive weeks. The song debuted at number four on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, then peaked at number two. It was certified Silver in the United Kingdom.

Music videos

Two

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s were made: one in black and white, directed by

Marcus Nispel Marcus Nispel is a German film director and producer, Fulbright Scholar, best known for several high-profile American remakes such as ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'', as well as an extensive career in television commercials and music videos. H ...

, for the ''Tougher Than Love'' album; the other, directed by

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...

, for the ''Bad Boys'' soundtrack with

and

appearing in it. That video features King dancing and singing to the song in a very cold-looking environment, but through the chorus they are seen dancing on a

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

looking stage.

Track listings

* CD single # "Shy Guy" (radio edit) — 3:39 # "Shy Guy" (darpe mix) — 3:41 * CD maxi # "Shy Guy" (radio edit) — 3:39 # "Shy Guy" (darpe mix) — 3:41 # "Shy Guy" (randB mix) — 3:36 # "Shy Guy" (dancehall mix) — 5:00 # "Shy Guy" (dancehall dub) — 4:54 * 7" single # "Shy Guy" (radio edit) — 3:39 # "Shy Guy" (darpe mix) — 3:41 * 12" single # "Shy Guy" (radio edit) — 3:39 # "Shy Guy" (darpe mix) — 3:41 # "Shy Guy" (randB mix) — 3:36 # "Shy Guy" (dancehall mix) — 5:00 # "Shy Guy" (dancehall dub) — 4:54

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Covers and samples

In 1998, a cover version of the song called ''Jeito Sexy'' became the first hit of Brazilian band

Fat Family Fat Family is a Brazilian vocal band from Sorocaba. As the name suggests, all members are overweight people and are members of the same family. They have so far released three albums by EMI Music. Sidney Cipriano (aka Sidney Sinay) died on Februa ...

.CliqueMusic - Fat Family
(in Portuguese) Cliquemusic. UOL Retrieved 10 March 2016. In December 2008,

Mýa Mya Marie Harrison (; born October 10, 1979), (stylized as Mýa), is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born into a musical family, she studied ballet, jazz, and tap dance as a child. Initially, Mýa began her career as a VJ ...

recorded a cover version of "Shy Guy" with the words in English rather than in the

patois ''Patois'' (, pl. same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or ...

that King's version was recorded in. This was included on Mýa's 2008 Japan-only album '' Sugar & Spice'' but was not released as a single. Lyric McFarland sang the song in the Blind Auditions for Season 2 of The Voice Australia. It earned her a mentorship from

Joel Madden Joel Rueben Madden (né Combs; March 11, 1979) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist for the pop punk band Good Charlotte. He is also part of the pop rock collaboration the Madden Brothers with his identical twin brother Benji ...

. DTwinz sang the song in the Blind Auditions for

series 4 Series 4 could refer to: * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 4, the automobile model * BMW 4 Series, the automobile model line * GeForce 4 series, line of nVidia video cards * Scania 4-series, the truck model line * South African Class 6E1, Series 4, e ...

of the UK series ''

The Voice UK ''The Voice UK'' is a British singing competition television series. Created by John de Mol, it premiered on BBC One during the spring television cycle on 24 March 2012. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice ...

''. They managed to turn 3-chairs and chose

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studi ...

as their coach. In 2016, Belgian singer Unicq released her own bilingual French / English version under the title "Mercy (Shy Guy)". The single reached number 76 on the SNEP chart, the French official singles chart. The chorus of the 2016 song "Don't Hurt Me" by

DJ Mustard Dijon Isaiah McFarlane (born June 5, 1990), known professionally as Mustard (also known as DJ Mustard), is an American record producer and beatmaker. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow California-bred artists YG and Ty Dolla Sign; among var ...

and

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

contains an interpolation of "Shy Guy".

References

{{Authority control 1995 singles 1995 songs Bad Boys (franchise) Black-and-white music videos Diana King songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Music videos directed by Marcus Nispel Music videos directed by Michael Bay Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Zimbabwe Songs written by Andy Marvel Songs written for films