Ripton Joseph Hylton (born 19 November 1957), known artistically as Eek-A-Mouse, is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the earliest artists to be described as a singjay. He is known for pioneering his own style of scatting, differing from the-then toasting deejays in the 1980s. Apart from his distinctive vocal style, Eek-A-Mouse has been noted for often wearing flashy and eccentric costumes during his performances.
Early life, family and education
Ripton Joseph Hylton was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended college.
Career
Hylton 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. Hylton worked for various sound systems over the next few years and also released a few more singles. He adopted his stage name in 1979 after betting on a racehorse of that name; 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, Skidip was released before the year was out.
Further albums followed: Mouse and the Man (1983), produced by Linval Thompson, and Mouseketeer (1984), produced by Junjo Lawes. Eek-A-Mouse also featured on several of the live dancehall albums from the era, including the Aces International and Live at Skateland collections.
He performed in Jamaica for the first time in eight years in August 2015 at the Marcus Garvey Festival in Ocho Rios.
Collaborations
Eek guests on Roger Kellaway's 1984 release Creation, contributing his voice to the title track. 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. Eek was featured with background vocals on the hit single "Khaki Suit", also featuring Bounty Killer, from the Grammy-award-winning album Welcome to Jamrock by Damian Marley. Eek was also part of the recording of one of the most important German hip hop albums Blauer Samt by Torch (German rapper). He can be heard on the track "Auf der Flucht" ("On the run"). He collaborated with Canadian band Bran Van 3000 in 2001 on the track "Go Shoppin'" on their Discosis album.
Personal life
As of 2021, Eek-A-Mouse had lived in Sweden with his partner since 2017. with a US$1 million bond issued. He was discovered to be in the Netherlands in 2010, but was unable to travel due to either an expired visa or the volcanos in Iceland. In July 2013 he was released after a plea agreement, having pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges for assault on a female and attempted crime against nature, with his time already spent in jail covering his sentence.