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.,: , 

'Hotstepper' isdancehall'sticket intothe tip<5 


JamaicanIniKamoze hitsitbig, 
and he'll have his pick of labels 


H
H
AVE DANCEáIIALL 
days finally arrived on 
the pop charts'! The 

first top-five hit for an au


thentic Jamaican dance-hall 

artist arrives this week as 

"Here Comes the Hotstep


per" by Ini Kamoze (pro


nounced I-Knee Ka-MO-zee) 

vaults to NO.4 on Billboard's 

Hot 100Singles chart. 

(Last year, the dance-hall 
artist Snow 
topped the 
s ilI.g Ies 
charts with 
"Informer," 
but he's a 
white Canadian 
who 
only recently 
tapped into 
this mix of reggae rhythms 
and hip-hop production. He's 
dance hall's Vanilla Ice.) 

By contrast, Kamoze years 
ago began mingling reggae's 
sensuality with hip hop's excitement. 
In the '80s, he enjoyed 
hits in the Caribbean 
and Europe on Island 
Records. By late in the decade, 
however, Island 
dropped him. Three years 
ago, Kamoze recorded a 
rough demo of"Holstepper." 

And while many labels want


..~ 

ed the publishing rights to 

the song, none would sign Ka


moze to a full artist deal. 

Finally, in '93, Maxine 

Stowe (who inks acts-fur 

Columbia Records) round a 

way to work with hun -albe


it a limited one. ;'1 had just 

signed five or six reggae 

acts," she ex plaius. "SO I 

couldn't get any more 

through the company." 

JIM FARBER 

BULLETS aBOMBS 

But she could put one 
Kamoze song on aCaribbean 
compilation album she was 
assembling; "Stir ItUp." Instantly, 
she ordered a remix 
of"lIotstepper" -the results 
of which convinced Columbia 
execs to release it as the album's 
first single. 

In September, the song 
broke out from New York's 
own Hot 97, and it soared 
from there. 

Small wonder. Not only 
does "Uotstepper" house the 

~~ ~ ~ . 
;,' 

STEPPIN' UP: Ini Kamoze brings dancehall to top of charts. 

fetching patois of dance hall. -for Cannibal & the Headitnicks 
lhe classic chorus hunters ill 1965 aud Wilson 
from "Land of 1000 Dances" Pickett in '66). 
(a twice-proven chart smash Despite the success of 

~ 

"Hotstepper," sales of the 

full "Stir ItUp" album have 

languished. Stowe blames 

that on record stores: "They 

still put reggae albums in the 

back ofthe store." 

Kamoze himself shouldn't 

complain. Since Columbia 

didn't sign him for more than 

one song, he's now free to 

negotiate with the entire in


dustry, armed with a massive 

hit as leverage. Not since an 

unsigned Lisa Loeb struck 

gold with "Stay" has an indie 

artist been sitting so pretty. 

(Eventually, she signed with 

Geffen for major bucks.) 

As Stowe says: "We'd loveto get InL But right now, he's 
in a position to pick." 

Madonna ****in a 

finds herself 
less enviable position this 
week. Her new album, "Bedtime 
Stories," debuted at a 
disappointing No.3, with 
sales of 145,000. That's a rela-gtively weak start for a star of

~ 

her caliber, (By contrast, z

R.E.M. debuted at No.1 and 
sold 350,000 albums in its ,~
(IJfirst week.) That doesn't 
speak well of Madonna's 
¥

sales base. Even her current 

single, "Secret," earned its .~ 
o

top-five position more from ::s 

a.
airplay than sales.

~

Now don't get any funny 

Z

ideas. Madonna isn't over. o 

But she has got some fightingback to do. Will her next single, 
"Take a Bow," do the 
trick? Stay tuned, 

,:::~::~::~ 

~ 

a-

ID 

.J ~~
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