By DJ YRS Jerzy
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
What has Oakland not done for hip hop? This Oakland Week tribute Hip Hop Vibe is doing for the scene has revealed just how important the city is to hip hop. Rappers come and go and most say they want to be the opposite of MC Hammer, but Hammer outsold every other living rapper in the game; what’s so bad about him?
MC Hammer started his career in 1987 and he dropped his Feel My Power debut album, independently. Soon, this led to MC Hammer landing a record deal with Capitol Records and this changed the game. There were several Oakland artists meeting success, but the city became known to the world through MC Hammer.
As he took over the pop rap market, dropping such hits as “Turn This Mutha Out,” “U Can’t Touch This,” “Have You Seen Her,” “Too Legit to Quit,” and “Pumps and A Bump,” MC Hammer became a household name. With every move he made, MC Hammer continued to represent Oakland. MC Hammer has his own label, Oaktown Records.
History is always being rewritten by people, but nobody can deny MC Hammer’s success. MC Hammer set a record in hip hop history when his Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Em album went diamond. Eventually, some other artists outsold MC Hammer with their albums, but he set the standard. Continuing Oakland Week into today, the Wednesday Throwback column will be used to look back on a few of the biggest hits from MC Hammer.
See the best of MC Hammer below:
“Turn This Mutha Out”
Without the help of a major label, MC Hammer debuted in 1987 with his album, Feel My Power. MC Hammer managed to come out of the gate strong and it landed him a major deal with Capitol Records. After the release of Feel My Power, MC Hammer dropped his sophomore album, Let’s Get It Started.
MC Hammer showed his penchant for making hits when he released “Turn This Mutha Out.” Even though MC Hammer dropped a few singles off his album before this, he truly made his mark with “Turn This Mutha Out.” The independent success of this single fueled MC Hammer landing that major label deal.
The music video for “Turn This Mutha Out” showed how unique MC Hammer was to the game. His music videos were unlike the other videos, as he put a lot into the intros for his songs. “Turn This Mutha Out” was the first of many classic music videos from the future chart-topper.
Watch “Turn This Mutha Out” by MC Hammer below:
“U Can’t Touch This”
A few people remembered MC Hammer from “Turn This Mutha Out” and Capitol Records saw enough in him to keep investing. When MC Hammer began working on his third studio album, Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Em, he had a unique idea. His plan was to sample Rick James’ “Super Freak.”
The end result of MC Hammer’s work was “U Can’t Touch This,” which was released early in 1990. “U Can’t Touch This” became the biggest hit of the year and it was previewed the prior year on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” MC Hammer’s single propelled his album to hip hop history, selling over 18 million copies.
In the twenty-three years since MC Hammer dropped the single, it remains a fixture in pop culture. Pop culture lists and companies have used the “U Can’t Touch This” song and phrase for their use. Plus, nobody will forget the popular Facebook page, “I hate when I hang out with MC Hammer and he doesn’t let me touch things.”
Stop. Hammer-time.
Watch “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer below:
“2 Legit 2 Quit”
It was impossible to top “U Can’t Touch This” and Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Em, so the next best thing was to stick with the formula. In 1991, MC Hammer came back out with his third major label album and fourth overall, Too Legit To Quit. The album became a breakout success, boasting the “2 Legit 2 Quit” single.
James Brown made a cameo in the music video, as he passed the torch down to the young Oakland rhymer. While Too Legit To Quit did not gain the same type of record sales as Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Em, “2 Legit 2 Quit” was a bigger single than “U Can’t Touch This.” Either way, MC Hammer kept winning.
When he dropped the “2 Legit 2 Quit” music video, MC Hammer did more than just doing a video. Following the trends of Michael Jackson and Prince, MC Hammer put out an entire short film. MC Hammer put down some dancing in the music video/short film for “2 Legit 2 Quit,” check out the star-studded intro.
Watch “2 Legit 2 Quit” by MC Hammer below:
“Pumps and a Bump”
Even though this was the beginning of the end for MC Hammer, he came back out pretty good after taking some time off. “Pumps and a Bump” was the first single off the comeback album from MC Hammer, The Funky Headhunter. Nobody can take away the “Pumps and a Bump” hit status, but it just wasn’t MC Hammer.
As popular as he was, MC Hammer was a married man with a child. Him doing the single, “Pumps and a Bump” turned a lot of people off from his family-friendly image he had been so successful with. Because his West Coast peers were finding success with gangsta rap, MC Hammer tried his hand and used a Los Angeles-style beat.
The music video goes down as a classic for a different reason, but the “Pumps and a Bump” single was pretty much MC Hammer jumping the shark. Still, it’s a memorable song that brings back the feel good era in hip hop. For that reason, this was included on the MC Hammer tribute for Oakland Week.
Watch “Pumps and a Bump” by MC Hammer below:
Follow DJ YRS Jerzy on Twitter @IAMDJYRSJERZY.
