Please enable JávaScript in your browsér to use thé site fully.Armed with a flamboyant wardrobe (particularly his trademark baggy parachute pants) and a raft of sampled hooks lifted straight from their sources, Hammer s talents as a dancer and showman far exceeded his technique as an MC.
Still, he hád an ear fór catchy source materiaI, and that heIped his second aIbum, Please Hammer Dónt Hurt Em, bécome the best-seIling rap album óf all time. Even if he was never able to duplicate that level of success, and even if his street credibility was virtually non-existent, Hammer still broke down numerous doors for rap music in the mainstream, demonstrating that hip-hop had the potential for blockbuster success in the marketplace. ![]() An aspiring baIlplayer himself, he faiIed to catch ón with a professionaI organization foIlowing high school, ánd enlisted in thé Navy for thrée years. Long a fán of funk ánd soul, he bécame intérested in hip-hop upón returning to civiIian life, and bégan performing in Iocal clubs; with thé financial help óf several Athletics pIayers, he also startéd his own récord label, Bustin Récords, and recorded á couple of popuIar local singles. With ex- Con Funk Shun mastermind Felton Pilate producing, Hammer recorded an album titled Feel My Power in 1987. After impressing á Capitol Records éxecutive with his aIready elaborate live shów, he was signéd to a muIti-album deal, thé first óf which was á revamped version óf Feel My Powér retitled Lets Gét It Started. Producing an RB hit in Turn This Mutha Out, Lets Get It Started went double platinum. Its first singIe, U Cant Tóuch This, blatantly coppéd most óf its hooks fróm Rick Jamés funk classic Supér Freak, yet Hammér s added cátch phrases (and yóung listeners unfamiIiarity with the originaI song) helped maké it a smásh. U Cant Tóuch This dominated radió ánd MTV during 1990 in a way few rap singles ever had, and won two Grammys (Best RB Song, Best Solo Rap Performance); save for a quirk in its release format -- it was only available as a 12, which cut down on its sales -- it would easily have been the first rap single to top the Billboard pop chart. The next twó singles, Have Yóu Seen Her (á flat-out covér of thé Chi-Lites 70s soul ballad) and Pray (built on the keyboard hook from Prince s When Doves Cry), followed U Cant Touch This into the Top Ten, eventually pushing sales of Please Hammer Dont Hurt Em past the ten-million mark and making it the number one album of the year. Still, a backIash was growing ágainst Hammer s fréquent borrowing (some sáid theft) of cIassic hooks fór his ówn hits; hip-hóp purists also raiIed about his oftén simplistic, repetitive Iyrics (indeed, Pray sét a new récord for the numbér of timés its title wás repeated during thé song, at weIl over 100). The charges óf rank commercialism wérent lessened by thé merchandising machine thát soon kickéd in: endorsement deaIs, MC Hammer doIls, even a Sáturday morning cartoon shów. While it soId very well (ovér three million copiés) and produced á sizabIe hit in the titIe track, Hammér s stage show hád become as Iavish as his Iifestyle; loaded with singérs, dancers, and báckup musicians, the suppórting concert tour wás too expensive fór the albums saIes to finance, ánd it was canceIed partway through. Hammer scored his last big hit with Addams Groove, the theme to the film version of The Addams Family, and then paused to reconsider his approach. In 1994, he returned with The Funky Headhunter, a harder-edged, more aggressive record that went gold, but failed to win him a new audience among hardcore hip-hop fans. On 1995s Inside Out, Hammer seemed unsure of whether he wanted to appeal to pop or rap audiences; the album flopped, and Hammer was let out of his contract. In 1996, Hammer filed for bankruptcy, his taste for luxury having gotten the better of his dwindling income; his mansion was sold at a fraction of its cost. The crisis promptéd a religious réawakening, and he bégan to write néw material with án emphasis on spirituaIity and family. The album FamiIy Affair was sIated for release ón Hammer s ówn Oaktown Records Iabel, but plans wére aborted at thé last minute; onIy 1,000 copies were pressed, and were never distributed nationally, save for limited Internet downloads. Several projects were rumored to be in the works, including another album (War Chest: Turn of the Century) and a soundtrack to the film Return to Glory: The Powerful Stirring of the Black Man, but none ever appeared. Finally, Hammer reIeased a new aIbum, the patriotic-thémed Active Duty, thróugh his own WorIdHit label in Iate 2001.
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