Latest Release
- MAY 17, 2024
- 1 Song
- Wa-Do-Dem · 1982
- Wa-Do-Dem · 1982
- Can't Stop Us Now: Linval Thompson Productions · 2002
- Ganjaville (Ganjaville Riddim) - Single · 2022
- Wa-Do-Dem · 1982
- The Very Best of Eek-A-Mouse · 1982
- Mouseketeer · 1984
- Reggae Anthology: Eek-Ology · 2013
- African Children - Single · 2017
- Reggae Anthology: Eek-Ology · 2013
Essential Albums
- While it wasn’t his debut album, 1982’s Wa-Do-Dem revealed Eek-A-Mouse’s wholly original and strangely alluring style. His half-sung, half-spoken vocals can be nasally playful or faraway ghostly, and his ability to turn nonsense syllables into otherworldly incantations is nothing short of brilliant. And there are compelling narratives, such as “Ganja Smuggling,” which tells of an innocent kid’s initiation into the drug trade, and “Operation Eradication,” a story of Eek’s murdered friend, fellow toaster Errol Shorter. The rock-solid rhythms of Eek’s backing group, Roots Radics, bring this incredible set full circle.
Albums
Music Videos
Artist Playlists
- Motormouthed, multisyllabic dancehall star with a gift of the musical gab.
Compilations
Appears On
- INFINITY 16
About Eek-A-Mouse
Eek-A-Mouse was one of the most distinctive vocal stylists to emerge in reggae in the ’80s. Born Ripton Joseph Hylton in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1957, he developed an approach that mixed conventional roots reggae crooning with the spoken, rap-like style known as toasting, interjected with scatting flurries of invented near-onomatopoeia. His 1981 album Wa-Do-Dem matched his unique sound with roots and dub tracks, and it was an international success via singles such as “Ganja Smuggling.” On early-’90s records like U-Neek, Eek-A-Mouse altered his style to incorporate elements of hip-hop, dancehall, and rock, seemingly courting a bigger international audience, but the shift didn’t take, and he was soon back to doing what he did better than anybody else—refining the singular sound he pioneered. Over the years, his pan-genre renown has led to him making guest appearances with a broad range of artists, including British New Wavers The Blow Monkeys and Californian nu-metal men P.O.D.
- HOMETOWN
- Kingston, Jamaica
- BORN
- November 19, 1957
- GENRE
- Reggae