Almost three decades after its release, Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes The Hotstepper” has re-entered the charts, thanks to the popular social media platform TikTok.
The song, which made waves when it was released back in 1994, recently re-emerged on TikTok when one user posted a video of Kurdish men dancing at a wedding with the song as audio. The clip has been making the rounds on social media and was shared by thousands of users, attracting millions of views. Soon after, the song exploded on the app, with millions of users sharing their own video clips using the song and posting the hashtags “#hotstepper” and “#herecomesthehotstepper.”
“Here Comes The Hotstepper,” was the lead single on Ini Kamoze’s album of the same name. It became the artiste’s signature single after it made waves, topping the United States Billboard Hot 100 charts and climbing other record charts in Denmark, the UK, and New Zealand.
The Roots Reggae artiste, who started his career in the 1980s, could probably never imagine that the song would again be making strides and that he would still be reaping new benefits decades later.
“Here Comes The Hotstepper” entered the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart three weeks ago, peaking at number 7. The song later slipped to number 9 and then further to number 25 this week.
Additionally, the classic Roots Reggae tune currently stands in the number 1 position on the US iTunes Reggae song chart and No. 3 on Amazon’s Best Sellers in Reggae chart.
Meanwhile, the complete album, “Here Comes The Hotstepper,” re-entered the Billboard Reggae Album chart at number 10 last week and remained at that position this week. The 12-track album debuted at Number 1 on the chart when it was originally released in 1995.
Ini Kamoze, born Cecil Campbell, is one of many artistes enjoying some royalties from their older songs that resurged as a result of the powerful TikTok application and its massive fan engagement.
Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” (1959), Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” (1997), Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” (2004), and Aly and AJ’s “Potential Breakup Song” (2007) are just a few others that weirdly re-emerged in the music industry due to TikTok.
An MRC Data Survey in 2021 shows that 63% of TikTok users heard music they had never heard before on the app, and 67% admitted that they are likely to look for a song on a music streaming service after hearing it on TikTok first.
