Eek-A-Mouse was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1957 as Ripton Hilton. 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, 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.

He went in studio with producer Joe Gibbs, and released the respectable singles "Once A Virgin" (1979), "Wa-Do-Dem" (1980) and "Modelling Queen" (1980). The following debut-album "Bubble Up Yu Hip" (1980), produced by Linval Thompson, proved that a growing share of Jamaicans was taken by the Mouse experience. He had arrived with a sound so unlike any other, equal parts singing and DJing, combined with an astonishing weirdness. His characteristic scatting, "biddy biddy beng beng" or "wa do dem dem dem", took any crowd in a second.

1981 was the year of the Mouse. He joined forces with producer Junjo Lawes and remixer Scientist, released the hit-singles "Wild Like A Tiger", "Do You Remember", "Ganja Smuggling", and a remake of "Wa-Do-Dem", before he rounded up most of his hits and many more in the seminal album "Wa-Do-Dem", one of the most astonishing DJ albums ever recorded. Backed by the Roots Radics, he presented one of the most distinctive and oddest styles of the time. It rocketed the DJ to the top of the dancehall charts, and he was so quickly imitated that his unique style soon became the norm.

Although he released 14 studio albums up to now, he never gained the attention he deserves. For too long, the Mouse has been dismissed as one of the more bizarre tangents of an underrated subgenre. "Wa-Do-Dem", with its seething rhythms, simmering melodies, and spot on toasts in a unique fashion, proves otherwise. The Mouse is in the house!


(Last edit: 2006, Jul 06, SB, Reggae-Shack)