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. 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, Bustin' Records, and recorded a couple of popular local singles. 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.
Still, nothing could have foreshadowed the phenomenon of Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em , the 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.
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 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 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 , 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 '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. His father, Lewis Burrell, worked as a warehouse supervisor for several years before gambling took over his life and nearly drove the family to ruin.
Fortunately for his son, Stanley never inherited his father's gambling gene. Instead, his passions lay with music, baseball and dancing. By the age of 11, young Burrell was regularly earning money performing dance routines outside Oakland Coliseum during A's home games. By chance, he caught the attention of the team's owner, Chuck Finley, and was invited to watch a game from his luxury box.
Finley grew fond of the Burrell and eventually hired him as the team's batboy. Burrell, who played second base in high school, was a talented baseball player as well and later earned himself a tryout with the San Francisco Giants.
However, he failed to make the final cut, ending the young ballplayer's hopes of playing in the majors. Even as he dreamed of playing professional baseball, Burrell never turned his back on music. While working for the A's, he adopted the moniker "MC," for "Master of Ceremonies," and performed at various clubs when the A's traveled out of town. These days, Hammer has his own record label and still performs about 50 concerts a year.
However, there's a side to Hammer that a lot of people don't know about—and some of his interests and accomplishments may surprise you. In his spare time, Hammer Preaches and officiates friends' weddings Manages 22 mixed martial artists Helps develop iPad apps Invests in Internet start-up companies Lectures about new media at places like Harvard, Wharton, Stanford and Oxford "I think it is a shock to people to find out that MC Hammer is a super geek," he says. Hammer says he first became interested in technology while making a music video in the '90s.
He heard that videos could be accessed via the Internet, but the technology was still too new. Between meetings, Hammer uses Twitter to communicate with more than 2 million followers. Hammer and Oprah share the same favorite piece of new technology—the iPad.
So when they showed it to me I said, 'Well, Apple has to see this.
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