Ini Kamoze’s ‘Hotstepper’ steps again

Thirty-two years after Ini Kamoze’s infectious 1994 dancehall hit, Here Comes the Hotstepper, topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts, the song is being used in the USA in a Verizon TV ad campaign.

This is not the first time the Salaam Remi and the late Philip ‘Fatis’ Burrell produced Here Comes the Hotstepper is being used in a television ad campaign. In 2013, a remix of Hotstepper by French producer Yuksek was used in the highly successful Evian’s global Baby & Me campaign. Two years ago, Starbucks licensed the song for their We’re on Summer Time television campaign utilising 30 and 15-second TV spots.

Kamoze is part of a distinguished group of Jamaican artistes whose recordings have been used by major US corporate brands. Marcia Griffiths’ enduring Electric Boogie received another massive international platform when a version ad featuring Shaggy powered Jeep’s 2023 Super Bowl campaign.

Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds has helped sell the Jamaican vacation experience in Sandals advertising, while Toots & The Maytals’ 5 4-46 Was My Number has been associated with Levi’s. Shaggy’s Boombastic, which used by Levi’s during the 1990s, recently enjoyed renewed advertising life.

The continuing use of Hotstepper shines an important spotlight on an often-overlooked side of Jamaica’s music publishing. It is proof that the commercial life of a successful song does not necessarily end when it disappears from the charts.

Here Comes the Hotstepper was first released before the invention of smartphones, streaming services, social media and many of today’s digital advertising platforms existed, as well as artificial intelligence. It however is still being used in 2026 to market and promote corporate brands. For Kamoze, born Cecil Campbell in St. Mary, this is proof that a hit song can continue to earn if the music and publishing are properly managed.

UK-based Kennedy Mensah, founder and managing director of Back 2 Da Future Music Limited, the conversation is about much more than advances in technology, it is about ownership, recognition and ensuring that creators receive their fair piece of the pie for work they have done.

And for Jamaica, a small island whose musical fingerprints can be heard across popular music worldwide, Mensah believes there are lessons from the past that should not be ignored as the industry races into the age of AI.

“We don’t know how this thing is going to go,” he confessed. “All we know is that right now, as we sit here, there are people utilising artificial intelligence to enhance their recordings, their vocals, their engineering, everything,” he shared.

He said that the major labels and some of the bigger independent publishers are also licensing these companies.

The latest placement of Here Comes The Hotstepper, he said, raises an important question about how long a major reggae or dancehall hit can continue making money.

“If the track gets sampled now, then those peaks and troughs are higher,” Mensah explained. “If there’s been any sampling activity, any synchronisation activity, then you’re getting a few thousand every quarter, every half year.”

And when a major television commercial enters the equation, the impact can be significant.

“Massively. It changes it massively,” Mensah said when asked about the economic trajectory of a legacy song.