Ini Kamoze’s iconic Here Comes The Hotstepper celebrates its 30th anniversary this month with a double platinum certification in the United States.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced the certification on Friday (August 9), marking the sales and streaming equivalent of two million units sold in the country. The track’s resurgence began earlier this year when it topped the U.S. iTunes Reggae Songs chart for over two weeks after being featured in a new Starbucks commercial.
Kamoze, born Cecil Campbell, began his career in the 1980s, gaining recognition with his early albums under Island Records, thanks to collaborations with renowned producers Sly & Robbie. However, it was his partnership with producer Philip “Fatis” Burrel in 1990 that set the stage for his biggest hit. Together, they crafted the original Hot Stepper track, a term rooted in Jamaican slang, meaning someone on the run from the law.
After a three-year hiatus, Kamoze re-emerged in 1994 with Here Comes The Hotstepper, this time recorded in New York with Queens producer Salaam Remi and released under license to Sony Music’s Columbia Records. Remi, who had met Kamoze in 1991, played a pivotal role in transforming the track into a global hit. His “Heartical Mix,” which incorporated a drum/bass sample from Taana Gardner’s Heartbeat (1981), gave the track its distinctive sound.
Here Comes The Hot Stepper also included the “na na na na na…” chorus from the Cannibal and the Headhunters version of Land of a Thousand Dances (1964), guitar notes from Isaac Hayes’ Hung Up On My Baby (1974), the “murderer” chant from Shabba Ranks’ Roots and Culture (1990), and other vocals/lyrics from The Mohawks’ Champ (1968), Bobby Byrd’s Hot Pants (1972) and Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick’s La Di Da Di (1985).
Remi said the combination of these elements was intentional.
“It had ‘Land Of 1000 Dances,’ from my grandparents’ era. It had ‘murderer,’ the chanting part, which was very important for the reggae and West Indian commmunity — as well as the ‘Heartbeat’ sample, which made it appeal to my parents,” he noted in Fred Bronson’s ‘Billboard Book Of Number 1 Hits.’ “At the same time, there was nothing about it that would make a young person say, ‘It sounds old.’”
Here Comes The Hotstepper spent 30 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, including two weeks at No. 1. It peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom and was a top-ten hit in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The song, which already had a low-budget video, received a second music video after it was included on the soundtrack for Ready To Wear, featuring clips from the film. By December 1994, Hotstepper had been certified Platinum in the United States, having sold over 1 million copies.
With the track’s runaway success, Kamoze soon signed a multi-album record deal with Elektra Entertainment’s East West Records.
However, Columbia refused to allow Here Comes The Hotstepper to be included in his Elektra debut, Lyrical Gangsta. Instead, they acquired rights to some of Kamoze’s older recordings with Sly & Robbie and released the 12-track compilation, Here Comes The Hotstepper.
The compilation, including the title track and another hit World-A-Music, was released in January 1995, one week before Lyrical Gangsta, much to the consternation of Kamoze and his new label. “That phony Sony record is trying to rip off the buying public,” he reportedly told Vibe Magazine. “They’re digging up 12-year-old tapes and packaging them as new. Those vampires should quit trying to suck me.”
The ensuing marketplace confusion chilled the release of Kamoze’s Lyrical Gangsta, though the album’s first single, Listen Me Tic (Woyoi), did become his second song to enter the Hot 100, peaking at No. 88. The album also included the songs Hot Steppa and Hotter This Year.
Here Comes The Hotstepper continues to find new audiences.
It’s been featured in several TV shows and films over the years, including Me Time (2022), Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (2022), DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow (2022), Alex Rider (2020), Impractical Jokers: The Movie (2020), Everything Sucks (2018), Hawaii Five-O (2017), It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (2017), Everest (2015), Neighbors (2014), American Reunion (2012), and The Mentalist (2010).
The song has also been sampled in over 30 tracks since 1994, including Nicky Jam and Daddy Yankee’s Muévelo (2020), Static & Ben El and Pitbull’s Further Up (Na, Na, Na, Na, Na) (2020), Dr. Dre’s Murder Ink (1999), and Ciara’s Supernatural (2009).
