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