Eek-A-Mouse

Ludicrous, bizarre, and uniquely original, few DJs have made such a splash in the dancehall scene than Eek-A-Mouse. An artist who in any other country would have been a one-hit wonder, in Jamaica became a household name having invented a whole new vocal style, sing-jay, flooding the airwaves with his catch phrases and going on to become a respected toaster. Eek-A-Mouse didn't start out as a novelty act. He was born Ripton Hilton in 1957 in Kingston, Jamaica, and his first foray into the music world was as a cultural roots singer. While barely out of his teens and still in college, Hilton released two singles in the mid-'70s, "My Father's Land" and "Creation," to an apathetic public. Not discouraged, the young man continued plugging away, DJing for a variety of sound systems while also releasing occasional singles, all under his real name. To his friends, however, he was known as Eek-A-Mouse. A rather cruel jab, for that was the name of the losing racehorse Hilton kept throwing his money away on; of course as so often happens, the one time he declined to bet was the sole time the obstreperous equine won. The name stuck and by 1979, the singer decided a change was in order, and placed his musical fortune on this new moniker. That year, Eek-A-Mouse went into the studio with producer Joe Gibbs and walked out with the sizeable hit "Once a Virgin." His follow-ups in 1980, "Wa-Do-Dem" and "Modelling Queen," were equally successful, while the Bubble Up Yu Hip album, produced by Linval Thompson, proved that a growing share of Jamaicans were taken by the Mouse experience. Before the year was out, the artist had joined forces with producer Junjo Lawes and remixer Scientist. Backed by the Roots Radics, Eek cut "Virgin Girl" and "Noah's Ark," before having another go at...