Jamaican Dancehall’s first Billboard Hot 100 #1 song “Here Comes The Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze is getting a streaming boost 30 years after its release. The song re-peaked at #1 on US iTunes Reggae Songs chart for two week in May 2024, after it was synced in a new 30 seconds Starbucks commercial titled “We’re On Summer Time,” which began airing on May 8.
The commercial features actors Richard Cerato, who plays the office guy in glasses, and Tavond Francis, who portrays the guy in the blue bucket hat. The creative agency behind the project is Big Spaceship, and the media agency is Spark Foundry.
It also received a fresh take in April , “Here Comes The Hotstepper” when it was covered by French electronic DJ duo Trinix and Jamaican singer Blvk H3ro. Titled “Hotstepper,” the cover was released on April 5 via Warner Music France and has surpassed 3 million streams on on Spotify.
Trinix’s previous work includes a viral version of Rushawn and Jermaine Edwards’ “Beautiful Day (Thank You For Sunshine),” which has accumulated over 100 million streams.
Born Cecil Campbell, Kamoze began his career in the 1980s, collaborating with Sly & Robbie on his first three albums under Island Records. The story of his biggest hit began in 1990 when he worked with producer Philip “Fatis” Burrel to create the original “Hot This Year.”
Then, in August 1994, after a three-year hiatus, he re-emerged even hotter with “Here Comes The Hotstepper,” recorded in New York with Queens producer Salaam Remi and released under license to Sony Music’s Columbia Records.
Kamoze eventually signed to Elektra Records after Columbia added the song to another project. Label A&R Maxine Stowe told World Music Views that she executive produced “Stir It Up” 1994 and it made the 12 track set because another song was no longer available.
“We were already reviewing the track (‘Hotstepper’) and made the decision based on another track being removed and we had a pre-existing relationship with Salaam surrounding ‘Ghetto Red Hot’ by Super Cat,” Stowe said.
“Here Comes The Hotstepper” has surpassed 200 million streams on Spotify and the Salaam Remi produced song for Columbia Records’ was released on “Stir It Up” dancehall album.
Released as a single on August 18, 1994, “Here Comes The Hotstepper” became the first dancehall song to reach No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for two weeks in December 1994. The song followed Canadian singer Snow’s “Informer” as the only previous dancehall chart topper in the U.S. It spent a total of 30 weeks on the chart, entering first on September 17, 1994.
Remi recalled in a 2019 Instagram post how he met Kamoze in 1991 and created his first Billboard No. 1 hit. “Met Ini in ’91, worked on music from ’92-’93, got offered deals but none stuck. In ’94, I got to put this on a compilation that Columbia Records was doing called ‘Stir It Up’. Then I remixed it using ‘Heartbeat’ to make it single-ready,” he posted.
In terms of promotion, Remi noted that Hot 97 DJs initially gave the track some airplay. “I played the idea I did at the crib for Angie Martinez and Funkmaster Flex after the Friday Night Street Party at Hot 97. They both said finish that up. And championed it when it dropped. Hot 97 and The Box in Houston jumped it off. My first Hot 100 No. 1 record. International classic,” he said.
The song, now certified Platinum in the US (1,000,000) and the UK (600,000), disrupted Boyz II Men’s “On Bended Knee” reign at the top of the Hot 100 and served as Ini Kamoze’s comeback song after a three-year absence from the music scene.
After its chart success, dozens of people came out of the woodwork claiming uncleared samples of the song, which led to all royalties being frozen. This didn’t stop the use of the song in the “Pret A Porter” soundtrack, and Kamoze went on to sign with Elektra Records, where he secured a competitive advance.
“Here Comes The Hotstepper” has been featured on several movie soundtracks since its release, including most recently in “Sonic The Hedgehog 2,” released in May.
The song also includes 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).
“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 was previously featured in a JCPenney campaign in 2017 and an Evian Water commercial in 2013.
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).
