Informer (song)

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"Informer"
Single by Snow featuring MC Shan
from the album 12 Inches of Snow
Released September 30, 1992[1]
Format CD single, CD maxi, 7" single
12" maxi, Cassette
Recorded 1992
Genre Reggae fusion
Hip-hop
Length 4:05
Label EastWest Records America, Atlantic
Writer(s) Edmond Leary
Darrin O'Brien
Shawn Moltke
Producer M.C. Shan
Snow featuring MC Shan singles chronology
"Informer"
(1992)		 "Girl I've Been Hurt"
(1993)

"Informer" is a 1992 single by Canadian reggae musician Snow. It features and is produced by Queensbridge-bred rapper MC Shan, and is from Snow's debut album 12 Inches of Snow. The single was released shortly before Snow was imprisoned for a year on an assault charge.[citation needed] Upon his release from prison, "Informer" became a chart topping hit, spending seven consecutive weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was his biggest hit in the UK, where it reached Number 2, behind two different number one singles. In 2007, the song was ranked #84 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's.[2]

Contents

[edit] Awards and recognition

"Informer" won a Juno Award for Best Reggae Recording in 1994.[3]

[edit] Remakes

[edit] Parody

Despite Informer's chart success, many reggae purists viewed the song, along with the works of Ini Kamoze, Diana King, Shaggy and Shabba Ranks, as another example of "watered down" commercial reggae that rose to international popularity in the 1990s.[4] The sketch comedy show In Living Color, in a mock video featuring Jim Carrey as Snow, famously parodied the criticisms of reggae purists. Throughout the video, Carrey flees from angry Jamaican rastas determined to reclaim the purity of reggae from commercialism.[5]

[edit] Track listings

CD maxi
  1. "Informer" (radio mix) — 4:11
  2. "Informer" (album mix Rick The Mexican remix edit) — 4:28
  3. "Informer" (drum mix) — 4:12
  4. "Informer" (Clark's fat bass mix) — 4:39
  5. "Informer" (Clark's super mix) — 4:51
7" single
  1. "Informer" (radio edit) — 4:05
  2. "Informer" (album mix Rick The Mexican Remix Edit) — 4:28
12" maxi
  1. "Informer" (LP version Rick The Mexican remix edit) — 4:28
  2. "Informer" (drum mix) — 4:12
  3. "Informer" (dub) — 4:12
  4. "Informer" (Clark's fat bass mix) — 4:39
  5. "Informer" (Clark's super radio mix) — 4:11
  6. "Informer" (super dub) — 4:50
Cassette
  1. "Informer" (LP version Rick The Mexican Remix Edit) — 4:30
  2. "Informer" (drum mix) — 4:13

[edit] Personnel

  • Text : Darrin O'Brien, Edmund Leary, Shawn Moltke
  • Producer : MC Shan
  • Executive producer : David Eng, EZ Steve Salem
  • Co-producer : Edmund Leary, John "Jumpstreet" Ficarotta
  • Photography : Melanie Nissen
  • Informer remixer/editor: Rick The Mexican Huerta

[edit] Charts and sales

[edit] Peak positions

Chart (1993) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[6] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 2
Canada (RPM) 9
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] 1
France (SNEP)[6] 3
Germany (Media Control Charts)[6] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[8] 1
Italy (FIMI)[9] 14
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 2
New Zealand (RIANZ)[6] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[6] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[6] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[6] 1
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company)[11] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[12] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[12] 24
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks[12] 10
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[12] 12

[edit] End of year charts

End of year chart (1993) Position
Australia (ARIA))[13] 6
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[14] 9
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 11
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 14
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[16] 10

[edit] End of decade charts

Chart (1990–1999) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] 28

[edit] Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Austria[18] Gold July 16, 1993 15,000
Germany[19] Platinum 1993 500,000
UK[20] Silver April 1, 1993 200,000
U.S.[21] Platinum March 16, 1993 1,000,000

[edit] Chart successions

Preceded by
"A Whole New World" by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
March 13, 1993 - April 24, 1993 (7 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Freak Me" by Silk
Preceded by
"No Limit" by 2 Unlimited		 Norwegian VG-Lista number one single
16/1993 - 21/1993 (6 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"What Is Love" by Haddaway
Preceded by
"No Limit" by 2 Unlimited		 Swedish number one single
April 21, 1993 - May 19, 1993 (5 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Two Princes" by Spin Doctors
Preceded by
"Give In to Me" by Michael Jackson		 New Zealand RIANZ number-one single
May 7, 1993 - May 21, 1993 (3 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"That's the Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson
Preceded by
"No Limit" by 2 Unlimited		 Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single
May 8, 1993 - May 22, 1993 (3 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"That's the Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson
Preceded by
"All That She Wants" by Ace of Base		 Swiss number one single
May 9, 1993 - June 6, 1993 (5 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"What Is Love" by Haddaway
Preceded by
"That's the Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson		 Australian ARIA number one single
June 6, 1993 - July 4, 1993 (5 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"(I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You" by UB40

[edit] References

  1. ^ Informer (6 Mixes) by Snow ARTISTdirect.com
  2. ^ 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s
  3. ^ Juno Awards list, http://junoawards.ca/database/artist-summary/?artist_name=snow (accessed 6 January 2011).
  4. ^ Kevin O'Brien Chang and Wayne Chen, Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican music (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998), 6-8.
  5. ^ Carrey's parody can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icb_tRTnA4g (accessed 30 October 2010)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Informer", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 4, 2008)
  7. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005) (in Finnish). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3. 
  8. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 4, 2008)
  9. ^ Top Italian singles of 1994
  10. ^ a b "Single top 100 over 1993" (in Dutch) (pdf). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201993.pdf. Retrieved 15 April 2010. 
  11. ^ "Informer", UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 4, 2008)
  12. ^ a b c d Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved August 11, 2008)
  13. ^ 1993 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved August 11, 2008)
  14. ^ 1993 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved August 11, 2008)
  15. ^ 1993 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved August 11, 2008)
  16. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1993". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1993. Retrieved 2010-08-27. 
  17. ^ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. http://books.google.co.kr/books?id=9w0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&lr&rview=1&pg=RA1-PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved October 15, 2010. 
  18. ^ Austrian certifications, database ifpi.at (Retrieved August 11, 2008)
  19. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Informer')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Informer&strInterpret=&strTtArt=alle&strAwards=checked. Retrieved August 11, 2008. 
  20. ^ UK certifications, database Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved August 11, 2008)
  21. ^ U.S. certifications, database riaa.com (Retrieved August 11, 2008)
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