Informer (song)

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“Informer”
“Informer” cover
Single by Snow
from the album 12 Inches of Snow
Released January 19, 1993
Format CD single
CD maxi
7" single
12" maxi
Cassette
Genre Reggae
Hip-hop
Length 4:05
Label EastWest Records America
Writer(s) Edmond Leary
Darrin O'Brien
Shawn Moltke
Producer M.C. Shan
Certification Platinum

"Informer" is a 1993 single by Toronto reggae musician Snow, featuring MC Shan as guest artist and producer, from his debut album 12 Inches of Snow. The single was released shortly before Snow was imprisoned for a year on an assault charge. Upon his release from prison, it became a chart topping hit, spending seven consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was his biggest hit in the UK, where it reached #2, behind two different number one singles.

Contents

[edit] Plot and lyrical analysis

"Informer" is a slang term, usually derogatory, for a police informant, who is protected in exchange for information used to solve cases. Another alternative yet popular term for it would be snitch.

In the song, the narrator is apparently being accused of participating in a homicide near his home, but claims he was somewhere else when it happened and that the police informant who gave his name in is deliberately trying to wreck his life and career goals, disrupting his personal life.[citation needed]

No one has ever worked out what Snow says in the breakdown in the middle eight with the most popular estimate as "Come with a nice young lady, intelligent? yes, she gentle and irie".

"Informer" was 39th on VH1 and Blender Magazine's list of the "50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs... Ever". [1], but won a Juno Award for Best Reggae Recording in 1994. It reached 40th on MuchMoreMusic's list of the top "50 Guilty Pleasures" and was 84th on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s."

[edit] Remakes

  • In the television series In Living Color, Jim Carrey poses as Snow with similar sunglasses and parodies the song as "Imposter". The song describes how Snow himself is Canadian (Carrey is also Canadian) and becomes more bizarre as it progresses - at one point he sings like Popeye.[2]
  • The song was also covered by Arash and Aneela as "Chori Chori".

[edit] Track listings

CD maxi
  1. "Informer" (radio mix) (4:11)
  2. "Informer" (album mix) (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) (4:28)
12" maxi
  1. "Informer" (LP version) (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) (4:30)
  2. "Informer" (drum mix) (4:13)

[edit] Credits

  • 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

[edit] Chart

Chart (1993)[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 24
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales 3
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles 5
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 5
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 12
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 1
Australian Singles Chart 1
Austrian Singles Chart 2
Dutch Singles Chart 2
French Singles Chart 3
German Singles Chart 1
Irish Singles Chart 1
New Zealander Singles Chart 1
Norwegian Singles Chart 1
Swedish Singles Chart 1
Swiss Singles Chart 1
UK Singles Chart 2
United World Chart 1
Preceded by
"A Whole New World" by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
March 13, 1993- April 24, 1993		 Succeeded by
"Freak Me" by Silk
Preceded by
"No Limit" by 2 Unlimited		 Norwegian number one single
16/1993- 21/1993		 Succeeded by
"What Is Love" by Haddaway
Preceded by
"No Limit" by 2 Unlimited		 Swedish number one single
April 21, 1993- May 19, 1993		 Succeeded by
"Two Princes" by Spin Doctors
Preceded by
"All That She Wants" by Ace of Base		 Swiss number one single
May 9, 1993- June 6, 1993		 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		 Succeeded by
"(I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You" by UB40

[edit] References

  1. ^ 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever, VH1.com
  2. ^ Jim Carrey - Imposter (In Living Color), YouTube
  3. ^ "Informer", in various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 4, 2008)
  4. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 4, 2008)
  5. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 4, 2008)
  6. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 4, 2008)
  7. ^ Billboard Billboard.com (Retrieved April 4, 2008)

[edit] External links