Marlon Wayans: ‘I Heard Shabba Ranks Was Looking For Me After This Sketch’
Comedian Marlon Wayans took his Instagram followers down memory lane on Sunday, (January 29) when he shared an old In Living Color sketch he did in 1992, which parodied Shabba Ranks‘ 1991 hit, Mr. Loverman.
In Living Color, a sketch comedy TV series that aired between 1990 and 1994, provided a platform for the many members of the Wayans family for their absurd comedy that often poked cruel jokes at celebrities.
According to the White Chicks actor, he wrote and pitched a sketch dubbed, ‘Mr. Ugly Man’ to the show’s originator, his brother Keenen Ivory Wayans that parodied Mr. Loverman.
In the sketch, Wayans played Shabba, sporting the Dancehall legend’s (then) slanted high-top haircut and the white oversize shirt with 3 quarter-pants he wore in the track’s music video.
The skit captured similar poolside scenes with ‘Ugly Shabba’ surrounded by some terrified-looking ladies and female vocalists transforming the song’s original verses to, “Champion lover, don’t come home tonight. Ugly brother if you do, don’t turn on the light … they say beauty is skin deep but he’s ugly to the bone.”
‘Ugly Shabba’ had lines like, “If you look up the word “ugly” in the dictionary, right there on the page you see a picture of me. All ah dem say I look like an ugly Bobby Brown … she call me Mr. Ugly Man.”
In his IG post, Marlon shared a snippet of the hilarious ‘Mr. Ugly Man’ video and noted that it was, “the 2nd sketch i ever wrote on #inlivingcolor.
He added that it was an instant hit with the show’s producer. “My big bro @keenenivorywayans laughed at the table and immediately allowed for us to film it. I’m always proud when i make my big brothers proud. I heard Shanna [Shabba] was looking for me after this one. #mruglyman.”
Roots drummer Questlove responded to Marlon’s post, “Always wanted to know if he [Shabba] reacted to this…..👀”
Several followers replied to say Shabba had in fact seen the ILC feature and found it quite funny. “He was cool wid it, he said it’s comedy and we loved the Wayans in 🇯🇲 😂,” said one person.
Another added, “He knew he was Mr Ugly man 😂😂.”
User (@_life_is_aisha__) who is familiar with the Jamaican entertainer’s work, commented, “Shabba called himself… big black ugly dirty stinking Shabba. In all his songs. That[s] where biggie [got] that line from. Black and Ugly as ever.”
Another chimed in, “@questlove me a Jamaican an him ugly fi TRUE to rass.”
Others like @malcolmdlee, however, weren’t convinced, “Shabba gonna kill you one of these days, b,” he directed to the Scary Movie actor.
Marlon Wayans’ first episode as a cast member on In Living Color was in September 1992; he later appeared in the sketch Mr. Ugly Man on a November 8 episode. The show was widely centered around similar narratives including hilarious episodes such as, “Ugly Woman: Wanda Meets Luther the Ugly Man”, “Dracula Meets Ugly Wanda”, “Ugly Woman’s One Night Stand” and “Ugly Woman: The Fifth En Vogue Member” with guest stars En Vogue as themselves.
In Living Color also launched the career of actor/comedian Jim Carrey, who parodied Snow’s hit Informer track.
But “Mr. Ugly Man” was arguably the most memorable sketch, partly due to Shabba Ranks’ suave ladies’ man image, which he embodied in his classic Dancehall single Mr. Loverman.
The hook and melody of the single are based on the 1988 song Champion Lover by the British singer Deborahe Glasgow. Shabba released the first version of Mr. Loverman with Glasgow doing the female vocals. This version was included in his 1990 album Rappin’ With The Ladies.
After landing a smash hit Housecall with Maxi Priest in 1991, Shabba re-issued a new version of Mr. Loverman the following year, this time collaborating with fellow Jamaican, Chevelle Franklyn on vocals and Maxi toasting the catchy “Shabba!” in the background.
This version hit No. 23 in the UK and No. 40 in the US Hot 100 in the summer of 1993. Mr. Loverman was released for the third time in the UK in 1993 with a bigger bang, snatching the No. 3 spot on the music chart.
Shabba’s Dancehall style certainly caught on in the early ’90s – his albums, As Raw As Ever (1991) and X-tra Naked (1992) both won the Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album.