Earlier this year, reggae icon Ripton Hylton, better known as Eek-A-Mouse, collaborated with French reggae label Irie Ites on the single, Put Food on the Ghetto Youths Table. The track which was released back in February on both vinyl and digital format, tells the tale of the day-to-day struggles of underprivilged persons.

Since its release, the single has racked up more than 100,000 views on YouTube. But according to Irie Ites, that’s not the only place the track has been seeing success. Put Food on the Ghetto Youths table has also been seeling a myiriad of physical copies.

“We sold out the first pressings before the release. We re-pressed it again,” Jérôme Baccar of Irie Ites International told BUZZ.

Along with the strong sales and its YouTube success, the song has also been well received by music critics. Baccar says so far, music lovers are soaking up the single.

“It’s been a while since Eek-A-Mouse has released a big tune like this,” he said. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from reggae addicts and from the media.”

Baccar explained that the collaboration came out of a 2019 performance with Eek-A-Mouse, at which point they invited him for some studio sessions in France.

“We performed together at No Logo BZH in 2019 and Eek-A-Mouse mashed up the dance. After several studio sessions we did propose to voice a tune for Irie Ites Records, which became, Put Food on the Ghetto Youths Table,” he said.

According to Eek-A-Mouse the inspiration for the song comes from his experiences in the dancehall culture during the 60s, 70s and 80s, where the musical genre was limited to Jamaica’s inner cities, especially Trench Town. The track draws on that generation of reggae; mixing heavy bass and conscious lyrics that promote the protection of ghetto youths.

With Put Food on the Ghetto Youths Table being a winner for Irie Ites Records, Baccar is looking forward to more collaborations with Eek-A-Mouse.

“We have many rhythms we could propose in the near future as we would love to record some more songs with Eek-A-Mouse. Time will tell, as I would say,” added Baccar.

Baccar also hopes to have a Summer 2022 tour with Eek-A-Mouse.