MC Hammer
MC Hammer can be booked through this site. MC Hammer entertainment booking site. MC Hammer
is available for public concerts and events. MC Hammer can be booked for
private events and MC Hammer can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this MC Hammer booking page.
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up the performance or appearance fee for MC Hammer, we act as YOUR agent in
securing MC Hammer at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
MC Hammer and work directly with MC Hammer or the responsible agent for
MC Hammer to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of MC Hammer for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
MC Hammer Biography
There had been hit rap singles and albums before him, but MC
Hammer was the man who truly brought rap music to a mass pop audience.
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 had an ear for catchy source material,
and that helped his second album, Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, become
the best-selling rap album of 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.
MC Hammer was born Stanley Kirk Burrell in Oakland, CA, on March 30,
1962. A member of a strongly religious family, he landed a job as a
bat/ball boy for the Oakland Athletics baseball team, where he
entertained fans by dancing during breaks in the game, and earned the
nickname Hammer for his resemblance to all-time home run leader
Hammerin' Hank Aaron. An aspiring ballplayer himself, he failed to
catch on with a professional organization following high school, and
enlisted in the Navy for three years. Long a fan of funk and soul, he
became interested in hip-hop upon returning to civilian life, and began
performing in local clubs; with the financial help of several Athletics
players, he also started his own record label, Bust It, and recorded a
couple of popular local singles. With ex-Con Funk Shun mastermind
Felton Pilate producing, Hammer recorded an album titled Feel My Power
in 1987. After impressing a Capitol Records executive with his already
elaborate live show, he was signed to a multi-album deal, the first of
which was a revamped version of Feel My Power retitled Let's Get It
Started. Producing an R&B hit in Turn This Mutha Out, Let's Get
It Started went double platinum.
Still, nothing could have foreshadowed the phenomenon of Please Hammer
Don't Hurt 'Em, the 1990-released follow-up. Its first single, U Can't
Touch This, blatantly copped most of its hooks from Rick James' funk
classic Super Freak, yet Hammer's added catch phrases (and young
listeners' unfamiliarity with the original song) helped make it a
smash. U Can't Touch This dominated radio and MTV during 1990 in a
way few rap singles ever had, and won two Grammys (Best R&B 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 two singles, Have You Seen Her (a flat-out cover of the
Chi-Lites' '70s soul ballad) and Pray (built on the keyboard hook
from Prince's When Doves Cry ), followed U Can't Touch This into the
Top Ten, eventually pushing sales of Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em past
the ten-million mark and making it the number one album of the year.
Still, a backlash was growing against Hammer's frequent borrowing (some
said theft) of classic hooks for his own hits; hip-hop purists also
railed about his often simplistic, repetitive lyrics (indeed, Pray
set a new record for the number of times its title was repeated during
the song, at well over 100). The charges of rank commercialism weren't
lessened by the merchandising machine that soon kicked in: endorsement
deals, MC Hammer dolls, even a Saturday morning cartoon show.
Seeking to counteract the criticism, Hammer dropped the MC from his
name and used more live instrumentation on his 1991 follow-up album,
Too Legit to Quit. While it sold very well (over three-million copies)
and produced a sizable hit in the title track, Hammer's stage show had
become as lavish as his lifestyle; loaded with singers, dancers, and
backup musicians, the supporting concert tour was too expensive for the
album's sales to finance, and it was canceled 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 1995's 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 prompted a religious reawakening, and
he began to write new material with an emphasis on spirituality and
family. The album Family Affair was slated for release on Hammer's own
Oaktown 3.5.7. label, but plans were aborted at the last minute; only
1000 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 released a new
album, the patriotic-themed Active Duty, through his own WorldHit label
in late 2001. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Written by Steve Huey