Here Comes the Hotstepper

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"Here Comes the Hotstepper"
Standard artwork
Single by Ini Kamoze
from the album Here Comes the Hotstepper
Released18 August 1994
Genre
Length4:13
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Salaam Remi
Ini Kamoze singles chronology
"Hill and Gully Ride"
(1992)
"Here Comes the Hotstepper"
(1994)
"Listen Me Tic (Woyoi)"
(1995)

"Here Comes the Hotstepper" is a song co-written and recorded by Jamaican

Land of 1000 Dances
".

The song was Kamoze's only song to reach the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking atop the chart on 17 December 1994 and remaining there for two weeks. It also became a number-one hit in Denmark, New Zealand, and Zimbabwe and a top-10 hit in 13 other countries. Irish DJ John Gibbons made a remix of the song in 2018.

Usages of music sampling

"Here Comes the Hotstepper" contains several

Cannibal and the Headhunters version of "Land of a Thousand Dances," and the verse vocal melody is reminiscent of The Beatles' "Come Together", which was inspired by Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me
".

Critical reception

British magazine Music Week's RM Dance Update complimented the song as a "catchy funk anthem doing the business in the US".[5] An editor, James Hamilton, described it as a "lyrical gangster's madly infectious US smash reggae jiggler using the 'naa na-na-naa' chant from 'Land of a 1000 Dances'".[6] Charles Aaron from Spin viewed it as a "seamless, nonsensical string of ragamuffin hip-hop clichés." He added further, "Rivaling Joey Gardner's sample constructions for K7 [with "Come Baby Come"], producer Salaam Remi drops in the bass line from Taana Gardner's 1981 club classic [...], and next thing you know, you're humming "murderer" against your will. Kamoze is a Kingston native, a vet of four supposedly respectable albums, an author and playwright, but on this Top Ten hit, he could be Jah Blatt from down the block. Deeply disposable."[7] Steve Pick from St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, "With this cut, he's distilled most of the stylistic variants of his competitors, sweetened them with some goof hooks and come up with a breakthrough pop record that threatens to keep folks dancing for the next several years. I'm not sure what's "Heartical" about this version, but this is the mix you want."[8]

Chart performance

"Here Comes the Hotstepper" remains Kamoze's biggest hit to date. It went to number one on the US

UK R&B Chart in the process.[18][19] Elsewhere, "Here Comes the Hotstepper" topped the charts in New Zealand and Zimbabwe and peaked at number two in Australia.[13][20] The single was awarded with a gold record in France and Germany and a platinum record in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.[21][22][23][24][25][26]

Music video

Two

music videos were made to accompany the song. The remix version used various scenes from the film Prêt-à-Porter
.

Track listings

US cassette single[28]
European CD single[29]
  1. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Heartical mix)
  2. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Allaam mix)
  • US 12-inch and maxi-cassette single[30][31]
UK CD and 12-inch single[32][33]
Australian CD and cassette single[34][35]
  1. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Heartical mix) – 3:51
  2. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Heartipella) – 4:12
  3. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Heartimental) – 4:11
  4. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Allaam mix) – 4:34
  5. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Allaamental) – 4:34
  6. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (LP version) – 4:09
  • UK cassette single[36]
  1. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Heartical mix)
  2. "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (Heartimental)

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[23] Platinum 70,000^
France (
SNEP)[21]
Gold 250,000*
Germany (BVMI)[22] Gold 250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[24] Platinum 10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Platinum 600,000
United States (RIAA)[26] Platinum 1,000,000[78]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Impact, legacy and cover versions

Blender listed the song at number 492 in their ranking of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" in 2005.[79] BuzzFeed listed it at number 46 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s" in 2017.[80] Billboard placed "Here Comes the Hotstepper" at number 126 in their ranking of "Billboard's Top Songs of the '90s" in 2019.[81]

John Gibbons covered the song in 2019 as "Hotstepper". The song charted at no. 67 on the Irish Singles Chart.[82]

In 2020, American singer Nicky Jam and Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee interpolated the song's hook for the single "Muévelo", from the Bad Boys for Life soundtrack,[83] as did Israeli musical duo Static & Ben El for their single "Further Up (Na, Na, Na, Na, Na)" alongside American rapper Pitbull.[84] That same year, Parquet Courts frontman and artist A. Savage designed a t-shirt, Excuse Me Mister Officer (Murderer), named for a line in the song's pre-chorus, to honor victims of police brutality, the proceeds from which he donated to various US- and New York-based anti-prison organizations.[85]

In 2021, Philadelphia-based musician and social media personality Pat Finnerty enlisted Dr. Dog to cover the track for the "Hey, Soul Sister" episode of his YouTube series, What Makes This Song Stink.[86]

The song was featured in the second episode of the twelfth season of the sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

The song was included in the 2022 film, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and plays during a scene where the titular character is left home alone.[87]

The song was performed by Peter Griffin and his terminator clone in Season 19 Episode 13 of the cartoon Family Guy.

It was included in the launch trailer for the video game Yakuza: Like a Dragon.[88]

References

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