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Biography -

 

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eek-A-mouse (born Ripton Joseph Hylton,

November 19, 1957, Kingston, Jamaica)

is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of

the early artists to be described as a "singjay".

Eek-A-Mouse began his music career when he

was in college, releasing two roots reggae singles

under his own name, which

were produced by his mathematics tutor,

Mr. Dehaney. These early works were influenced

by the music of Pablo Moses. He then went on to work for various sound systems

over the next few years and also released a few

more singles. He adopted the stage name "Eek-A-Mouse" in 1979, taking the name of a racehorse he always bet on; it was a nickname his friends had

used for some time. He began recording for Joe Gibbs in 1979, having a hit straight away with "Once a Virgin", now showing

the influence of Ranking Joe, and this was soon followed with "Wa-Do-Dem" (produced by Douglas Boothe), and "Modelling

Queen", which began an association with Linval Thompson, who produced his debut Bubble Up Yu Hip album.

By the end of 1980, he had linked up with producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes, with whom he had big hits in 1981 with the likes

of "Virgin Girl" and a recut "Wa-Do-Dem". In 1981, he was the star of the Reggae Sunsplash Festival. His association with

Lawes led to a string of successful singles and albums, and in 1982 his hits included "Wild Like a Tiger", "For Hire and

Removal", "Do You Remember", and "Ganja Smuggling". The same year he released his second album, Wa Do Dem. The "Operation

Eradication" single showed Hylton's serious side, the song inspired by the vigilante killing of close friend and fellow DJ

Errol Shorter. Skidip was released before the year was out.

Further albums followed with 1983's Mouse and the Man, produced by Linval Thompson, and 1984's Mouseketeer, again produced

by Lawes. He also featured on several of the live dancehall albums from the era, including the Aces International and Live

at Skateland collections. In the second half of the decade his popularity began to wane slightly, and he targeted the

United States with the Assassinator album in 1985 (his first US release), produced by Anthony and Ronald Welch. He also

travelled to the United Kingdom to record "The King and I" the same year, the album targeted at the rock crossover

audience to which he had begun to appeal.

His 1988 album Eek-A-Nomics saw him begin to establish himself with an international audience, spawning a club hit with

"The Freak", he was signed by Island Records in 1989. He returned to prominence with 1991's "U-Neek" album, which

continued the rock-oriented style, including a cover version of Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er", and from which the hit

single "You're The One I Need" was taken. He went through a period of relative quietness before returning in 1996 with the

Black Cowboy album.

He also has a performance in the 1991 gangster movie "New Jack City" playing a drug-dealing Rastafarian named "Fat

Smitty".

Eek-A-Mouse is a regular at Sunsplash and often teams up with reggae duo Michigan & Smiley. An album was issued of his

performance in 1983. He was also featured on nu metal group P.O.D.'s album Satellite, lending his vocals to the Rock-Reggae track "Ridiculous." He can also be heard on OPM's album "ForThemAsses" on the track "Perfect Day."

Eek-A-Mouse recorded a song with hip-hop recording artist Ditch, called "Smoke it up" (2007, released in 2009), which is featured on

Ditch's CD "Public Intoxication". The song by Ditch and Eek-a-Mouse is featured on the "Jack Herer" documentary as well.

Has has also teamed up with Bounty Killer and Damian Marley in " Khaki Suit"

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Bio From - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eek-A-Mouse

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