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'''MC Hammer''' (born '''Stanley Kirk Burrell''' on [[March 30]], [[1962]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[rapper|MC]] who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s, known for his dramatic rise to and fall from fame and fortune and his trademark [[Hammer Pants]]. He became a preacher in the 1990s and now works as a television show host and CEO. He lives in [[Tracy, California]], with his wife Stephanie and seven children, three sons, one nephew and two daughters.
'''MC Hammer''' (born '''Stanley Kirk Burrell''' on [[March 30]], [[1962]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[rapper|MC]] who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s, known for his dramatic rise to and fall from fame and fortune and his trademark [[Hammer Pants]]. He became a preacher in the 1990s and now works as a television show host and CEO. He lives in [[Tracy, California]], with his wife Stephanie and six children, three boys and three girls.


==Early life==
==Early life==

Revision as of 09:08, 10 March 2008

MC Hammer

MC Hammer (born Stanley Kirk Burrell on March 30, 1962) is an American MC who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s, known for his dramatic rise to and fall from fame and fortune and his trademark Hammer Pants. He became a preacher in the 1990s and now works as a television show host and CEO. He lives in Tracy, California, with his wife Stephanie and six children, three boys and three girls.

Early life

Burrell was born in Oakland, California, and graduated from McClymonds High School.

"Executive VP" for the A's

From 1972 to 1980, Burrell served as a batboy with the Oakland Athletics under colorful team owner Charlie Finley, who lived in the Midwest and for whom Burrell was his "eyes and ears."[1] Reggie Jackson, in describing Burrell's role for Finley, took credit for the "Hammer" nickname:

Hell, our chief executive, the guy that ran our team, uh, that communicated [with] Charlie Finley, the top man there, was a 13-year old kid. I nicknamed him "Hammer," because he looked like [Hammerin'] Hank Aaron.[1]

Ron Bergman, at the time an Oakland Tribune writer who covered the A's, recalled that:

He was an informant in the clubhouse, an informant for Charlie, and he got the nickname "Pipeline."[1]

According to Hammer:

Charlie said, "I'm getting you a new hat. I don't want you to have a hat that says "A's" on it. I'm getting you a hat that says 'Ex VP,' that says 'Executive Vice President.' You're running the joint around here." . . . Every time I come down to the clubhouse, you know, Rollie would yell out "Oh, everybody be quiet! Here comes Pipeline!"[1]

Burrell wanted to be a professional baseball player, but he did not catch on in any professional organization. He instead joined the Navy, where he served with Patron (Patrol Squadron) Forty Seven (VP-47) of Moffett Field in Mountain View, California, as a Petty Officer Third Class Aviation Store Keeper (AK3) until his honorable discharge [citation needed]. Upon his return he began performing music in clubs and started his own record label, Bust It.[2]

Early career

His debut album Feel My Power was produced between 1986 and 1987 to be released independently in 1987. It was produced by VEH (of Con Funk Shun), and sold over 60,000 copies. In the spring of 1988, a DJ played the track "Let's Get it Started"—a song in which he declared he was "...second to none, from Doug E. Fresh, Cool LL, or DJ Run"—after which the track began to gain popularity in clubs. Hammer received several offers from major record labels after the successful release of the independent album.

Hammer initially refused to sign a contract with Capitol Records, but after a substantial signing bonus was added to his contract, he did. His debut album was then re-released as Let's Get It Started. A new video was shot for "Let's Get it Started," and another video was produced in fall of 1988 called "Pump It Up" (a new track added to Let's Get It Started). The "Pump It Up" video was added to the roster of "new wave" hip-hop videos that premiered or re-aired on the premiere season of Yo! MTV Raps. It depicted hip-hop legends Run-DMC getting disrespected by Hammer. The album eventually went triple-platinum (more than 3 million units sold). "Turn This Mutha Out" (the album's biggest hit), "Feel My Power", and "They Put Me in the Mix" saw heavy rotation on R&B/Hip-Hop radio stations throughout late 1988 into 1989.

His second album, 1990's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, included the smash single "U Can't Touch This", which sampled Rick James' 1981 hit "Super Freak". Interestingly, despite heavy airplay, "U Can't Touch This" stopped at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart due to the fact that it was released only as a twelve-inch single. Follow-up hits included "Have You Seen Her" (cover of the Chi-Lites); and "Pray", which had a beat sampled from Prince's "When Doves Cry" and was his biggest hit in the US, peaking at #2. The album went on to become the first hip-hop album to reach diamond status, selling more than 10 million units.[3] During 1990 Hammer toured extensively in Europe which included a sold-out concert at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. With the sponsorship of PepsiCo, PepsiCo International CEO Christopher A. Sinclair went on tour with him in 1991. At the same time, he also appeared in The West Coast Rap All-Stars posse cut "We're All in the same Gang".

A critical backlash began brewing over the repetitive nature of his lyrics, his clean-cut image, and his perceived over-reliance on sampling others' hooks for the basis of his singles - criticisms which were are also directed toward his contemporary, Vanilla Ice. He was mocked in music videos by 3rd Bass, The D.O.C., DJ Debranz, and Ice Cube. Oakland hip-hop group Digital Underground mocked him in the CD insert to their Sex Packets album when placing his picture in with the other members and referring to him as an "Unknown derelict". In fact, LL Cool J mocked him in "To tha Break of Dawn," a track on his Mama Said Knock You Out album, calling Hammer an "...amateur, swinging a Hammer from a bodybag (his pants)," and saying, "my old gym teacher ain't supposed to rap." However Ice-T came to his defense on his 1991 album OG: Original Gangster: "A special shout out to my man MC Hammer; A lot of people diss you, man, but they just jealous. Fuck 'em!" Ice-T later explained that he had nothing against people who were pop rap from the start, as Hammer had been, but only against rappers who switch from being hardcore or dirty to being pop-rap so that they can sell more records.

Despite the criticisms, MC Hammer's career continued to be highly successful. Soon, MC Hammer dolls, lunchboxes, and other merchandise was marketed. He was even given his own Saturday morning cartoon, Hammerman.

After dropping the "MC" from his stage name, Burrell released Too Legit to Quit (again, produced by Felton Pilate) in 1991. Burrell took the opportunity to answer his critics on certain songs on the album. Though the album was, by and large, no better accepted (critically) than his first, sales were strong (over three-million copies) and the title track was a hit. Another hit came soon after, with "Addams Groove" (which appeared on both The Addams Family motion picture soundtrack and the vinyl version of 2 Legit 2 Quit). Hammer set out on tour, but the 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. Despite the multi-platinum certification, the sales were one-third of "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em", and the record company considered it a commercial failure.

Later career

Later, Hammer parted ways with Pilate, switched record labels and signed with Giant Records. To adapt to the changing landscape of hip-hop, his next album was a more aggressive, gangsta rap album entitled The Funky Headhunter. The accompanying video to The Funky Headhunter's first single, "Pumps and a Bump", was banned from heavy rotation on MTV with censors claiming that the depiction of Hammer in Speedos and with what appeared to be an erection was too graphic.[4][5] This led to an alternative video being filmed (with Hammer fully clothed) that was directed by fellow Bay Area native Craig S. Brooks, who also helmed the video of rap group D.R.S.' only hit single "Gangsta Lean."

In 1995, Hammer released the album Inside Out, which critics claimed was unfocused, as it was unclear if the genre was pop or rap. The album sold poorly (peaking at 119 on the Billboard Charts) and Giant Records dropped him from their roster.[6] Because of dwindling album sales and a lavish lifestyle, Hammer, who was $13 million in debt, filed for bankruptcy on April 3, 1996.[7]

Hammer next signed with Death Row Records, then home to gangsta rap stars Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. The label did not release any of Hammer's music while he was with them. However, Burrell did record music with Shakur, and the album he recorded leaked onto the internet some years later. Their collaborative efforts are yet to be released. After the death of Shakur in 1996, Burrell left the record company. In 1996, Burrell signed with EMI, which saw the release of a compilation of Hammer's chart topping songs. The album, Greatest Hits, featured 12 former hits and was released in October, only six months after his bankruptcy.[8]

In 1997, MC Hammer (who by that time had readopted the "MC") was the subject of an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show and the VH1 series Behind the Music. In these appearances, Burrell admitted that he had already used up most of his fortune of over $20 million.

Due to the success of the Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em album, Hammer had amassed approximately USD$33 million.

$12 million of this total was used to have his home built in Fremont, California, 30 miles (50 km) south of where he grew up. Among the documented features this house had included:

  • Recording studio
  • 33 stadium seating theater
  • 2 swimming pools (one indoor/one outdoors)
  • Tennis courts and a baseball diamond
  • Waterfalls, ponds, and aquariums
  • Mirrored Bathroom (at least $75,000 (£35,000) in mirrors throughout the house)
  • $2 Million of Italian marble floors and a floor-to-ceiling gray marble office with customized marble niches for awards.
  • Marble countertops in the kitchen (the house was heavily decorated in marble)
  • Massive gold and black marble jacuzzi in the master bedroom
  • Basketball courts
  • Bowling alley
  • 17 car garage
  • Two gold-plated “Hammertime” gates for entrance to the property
  • A dishwasher installed in his master bedroom for the purpose of “cleaning up after a midnight snack” (as told in the VH1 movie about his life, entitled Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story).

Many of these amenities did little to improve the value of the home.

After the purchase of the home, it left approximately $20 million, the money that was supposedly squandered. After the home, his money went into other things (much described as frivolous):

  • A fleet of 17 automobiles, including a Lamborghini, a stretch limousine, a Range Rover, and a De Lorean.
  • Two helicopters.
  • Investments up to $1 million in Thoroughbred racehorses.
  • Careless spending on high-priced items like antique golf clubs, Etruscan sculpture, and gold chains for his 4 pet rottweilers.
  • Extravagant parties financed by Hammer himself.
  • The huge entourage of over 300 people, most of whom were on his payroll, for total monthly wages of $500,000.
  • Leased Boeing 727.

In 1991, MC Hammer established Oaktown Stable that would eventually have nineteen Thoroughbred racehorses. In 1991, his outstanding filly Lite Light won several Grade I stakes races including the prestigious Kentucky Oaks. His D. Wayne Lukas-trained colt Dance Floor won the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes and the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity in 1991 then the following year won the Fountain of Youth Stakes and finished 3rd in the 1992 Kentucky Derby.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hammer released the patriotic album Active Duty on his own WorldHit label. He donated portions of the proceeds to 9/11 charities. In 2004, he released the Full Blast album. Neither album managed to make the Billboard Charts.[9]

In 2003, Hammer appeared on the first season of The Surreal Life, a reality show known for assembling an eclectic mix of celebrities to live together.

In the 2005 MTV Music Video Awards, MC Hammer made a surprise appearance in the middle of the show with best friend Jeremiah Jackson.

In February 2006, the first single off Hammer's new album Look Look Look was released. The Scott Storch-produced title track was released as a single and a music video.

Hammer now frequently posts about his life on his blog "Look Look Look."[10]

Hammer's legacy

After his rapid fall from fame and subsequent bankruptcy, MC Hammer spent most of the latter half of the 1990s as a punch line in the music business. In 2000, Nelly, in his breakthrough hit "Country Grammar", announced his intention to "blow 30 mill[ion] like I'm Hammer" [1]. However, in 2000, Hammer received a nod from Mystikal in his song "Mystikal Fever": "Tell em all settle shop down close fo' sho', put it down like 1990 M.C. Hammer, I hope", referring to Hammer's intense and electrifying performance style.

However, he has also influenced the industry. Hammer's sampling of large portions of well-known pop oldies (as opposed to short James Brown or George Clinton funk riffs) has increasing popularity among mainstream rappers, particularly Diddy's Bad Boy Records stable. Other examples include Eminem's Like Toy Soldiers which samples nearly the entire chorus from Martika's similarly-named 1989 hit.

Even in 2008, vandals continue choosing to invoke Hammer's catchphrase.

Notoriously, British TV presenter Mark Lamarr interrupted Hammer repeatedly with this phrase in an interview filmed for "The Word", much to Hammer's annoyance.

Hammer recently performed a self-parody role in a television ad for Lay's potato chips. Some kids lose their baseball over the fence of a neighbor apparently infamous for not returning lost toys, so they throw him a bag of chips to appease him. He throws back their ball, their dog, a car belonging to one kid's dad, and MC Hammer, still dressed in golden sparkle shirt and Hammer pants. MC Hammer instantly breaks into the chorus of "U Can't Touch This." The kids then toss Hammer back over the fence. He also appeared in an ad for Nationwide Insurance which made fun of his sudden fall from fame and wealth. In 2004, "U Can't Touch This" was licensed by Purell for a series of commercials.

Hammer also began the trend of rap artists being accepted as mainstream pitchmen. Prior to Hammer, it was virtually unheard of for a hip-hop artist to be seen in a major commercial spot. Hammer appeared in major marketing campaigns for companies such as Pepsi and Taco Bell to the point that he was criticized as a "sell-out".[11][12] Today, many rappers appear in various major commercials and market their own clothing lines, such as Jay-Z, Nelly, and P. Diddy. Ironically, two of Hammer's biggest detractors, LL Cool J and Run D.M.C., appeared together in a Dr Pepper ad during Super Bowl XXXVIII. Dr. Dre appeared in a Heineken commercial in 2001, and Ice Cube, another one of Hammer's biggest detractors, filmed St. Ides malt liquor ads in the early 1990s and has since become an actor and producer. In one of the episodes of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy called "Goodbling and the Hip-Hop-Opotamus Irwin wears clothing similar to that of MC Hammer and dances to a variation of "U Can't Touch This".

Pastoral career

Hammer reaffirmed his Christian beliefs in October 1997[13] and now has a television show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.[14] Hammer has officiated at the celebrity weddings of actor Corey Feldman and Susie Sprague on 30 October 2002[15] and Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil and Lia Gerardini in January 2005.[16]

Discography

Albums

Album information
Feel My Power
Let's Get It Started
  • Released: September 28, 1988
  • Chart positions: # 30 US, #1 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums,
  • Last RIAA certification: 2x Platinum
  • Singles: "Intro: Turn This Mutha Out", "Pump It Up", "They Put Me in the Mix"
Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em
Too Legit to Quit
  • Released: October 29, 1991
  • Chart positions: #2 US, #3 Top R&B/Hip-Hop
  • Last RIAA certification: 3x Platinum
  • Singles: "Too Legit to Quit", "Addams Groove", "Do Not Pass Me By", "This is the Way We Roll"
The Funky Headhunter
  • Released: March 1, 1994
  • Chart positions: #12 US, #2 Top R&B/Hip-Hop
  • Last RIAA description: Platinum
  • Singles: "Pumps and a Bump", "Don't Stop", "It's All Good"
Inside Out
Too Tight
  • Released: Unreleased, 1996
  • Chart positions:
  • Last RIAA description:
  • Singles: "Too Late Playa Feat. 2Pac"
Family Affair
Active Duty
  • Released: 2001
  • Chart positions: Did Not Chart
  • Last RIAA description:
  • Singles: "No Stoppin' Us", "Pop Yo Collar"
Full Blast
Look Look Look
  • Released: 2006
  • Chart positions: # 1 Hot Rap & R&B Records
  • Last RIAA description:
  • Singles: "Look 3X", "Get 2 No U"

Compilations


Singles

Year Title Chart positions
U.S. UK
1988 "Let's Get It Started" - -
"Pump It Up" 46 -
1989 "Turn This Mutha Out" - -
"They Put Me in the Mix" - -
1990 "U Can't Touch This" 8 3
"Have You Seen Her" 4 8
"Pray" 2 8
"Here Comes the Hammer" 54 15
1991 "Yo!! Sweetness" - 16
"(Hammer Hammer) They Put Me in the Mix" - 20
"Too Legit to Quit" 6 60
"Addams Groove" 7 4
1992 "Do Not Pass Me By" 62 14
"This is the Way We Roll" 86 -
1994 "Pumps and a Bump" 26 -
"It's All Good" 46 52
"Don't Stop" - 72
1995 "Straight to My Feet"
(with Deion Sanders) 		- 57
1996 "Too Late Playa"
(with Tupac Shakur) 		- -
2001 "No Stoppin' Us (USA)" - -
"Pop Yo Collar" - -
2006 "LOOK" - -
2006 "So Long" - -

Trivia

  • Not only was Hammer featured on one of the first episodes of VH1's Behind the Music in 1997, he was also the subject of a 2001 biopic titled Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story, which also aired on VH1 and starred Romany Malco in the title role.
  • Stanley Burrell has performed on USO tours for men and women of the Armed Forces.
  • Is very close friends with Deion Sanders.
  • MC Hammer helped fund (and effectively save) Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow.
  • MC Hammer performed as a special guest at the 2007 Bamboozle music festival in New Jersey.
  • MC Hammer performed as the headlining concert in Nike's "Run Hit Remix: The Power Song Edition," at the Los Angeles Coliseum on September 15, 2007.
  • In the Shark Tale movies, (Elton) Oscar is most likely to sing U Can't Touch This.

Music sampled by Hammer

List of athlete appearances in Hammer's "Too Legit to Quit" video

(in chronological order)

Sampling Court Case

Hammer was a defendant in a landmark 1998 sampling copyright decision in the case of Santrayll v. Burrell. The Hammer song in question was "Here Comes the Hammer". Federal Court Judge Peter K. Leisure concluded that Hammer had sampled music by another rap group, The Legend. The Legend admitted to sampling LTD's "Back In Love"; Wham!'s "Everything She Wants"; Barry DeVorzon's "S.W.A.T." theme in their songs "In Full Effect"/"Uh-Oh". The Legend also admitted that they did not disclose the sampled works when filing for copyright registration. In essence, Hammer argued that because The Legend admitted to sampling, this constituted a knowing failure to advise the Copyright Office of facts that might have led to the rejection of the copyright application. Meaning: no copyright protection for The Legend means no lawsuit for infringement against Hammer. But the court disagreed with Hammer and found that: (1) it was possible that a jury might find that the failure to disclose the samples was not deliberate and (2) the samples played such a minor role in The Legend's song that the unauthorized use of samples "could not possibly have led the Copyright Office to reject the copyright applications."

Hammer ultimately admitted in depositions and court documents to taking the song from a Christian recording artist in Dallas, Texas named Kevin Christian (formerly "Kevin" Muhammad Abdallah). Christian had filed a 16 million dollar lawsuit against Hammer for copyright infringement. While "Here Comes The Hammer" was similar to The Legends song, musical experts agreed that it was almost identical to Mr. Christian's (Abdallah's) song entitled "Oh-Oh, You Got The Shing" and one would have to have heard the other in order for this to happen. This fact compounded with witness testimony from both Hammer's and Christian's entourages and other evidence including photos brought about a settlement from Capitol Records in 1994. The terms of the settlement remain sealed. Hammer settled with Christian the following year.

-"Hammered" Dallas Observer -February 26, 1998

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Rebels of Oakland: The A's, the Raiders, the '70s. HBO, 10 December 2003.
  2. ^ Hardy, Amanda: BayFest, Retrieved on May 29, 2007
  3. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:6etqoawabijb
  4. ^ http://63.194.19.185/~rawattitude/v2.php?subaction=showfull&id=1078785985&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&
  5. ^ http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2005-06-29/summer7.html
  6. ^ http://www.answers.com/topic/mc-hammer-1
  7. ^ http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/special2/article.adp?id=20050328135309990003
  8. ^ http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Greatest_Hits_M_C_Hammer
  9. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=1035&model.vnuAlbumId=507384
  10. ^ http://mchammer.blogspot.com/
  11. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/mchammer/biography
  12. ^ http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1996/feb/02-08-96/arts/mc.hammer.html
  13. ^ "Rap Artist MC Hammer Returns to Faith in God".
  14. ^ "MC Hammer's TBN Site".
  15. ^ "Corey Feldman Wed by MC Hammer".
  16. ^ "MC Hammer Marries Vince Neil".

http://search.dallasobserver.com/1998-02-26/news/hammered/

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