Seeing Hammer wearing normal clothes made me realize he was actually an attractive dude. My mental conception of him was always 'what if Urkel tried to be Michael Jackson'.
This Is My Name That's like when people talk about bands like Green Day getting too political. Y'know. Same ones who probably listen to American Idiot.
Q-Tip wasn’t even dissing Hammer on “Check the Rhime”. When he said “rap is not pop if you call it that and stop” he was saying that Hammer was still a hip hop artist despite being a big celebrity who had all these commercials and mainstream attention. He was defending Hammer’s place in the hip hop community and Hammer misinterpreted it as dissing him.
@Mister Happy Rap Critic did a video on Vanilla Ice a little while ago... While Ice didn't exactly have the same amount of street credibility as Hammer, according to RC's research, Ice still slummed it up with some local hooligans and troublemakers. It's just that, when it came out that he over-inflated his past life to the media, Ice lost pretty much all credibility, street or otherwise. Eh, RC explains it better -- watch his video on Vanilla Ice, lol.
@@CSSLZT13 Yeah Ice might've not been a gang member but he still lived rough. But he and his label still try to make him tougher than he was and that's why he remains a joke.
@Mister Happy Beastly Boys to a degree, a lot of people thought they were white kids from the suburbs. even though they were White Kids from one of New York's worst neighborhoods
14:46 the crazy thing is that Q-Tip was DEFENDING MC Hammer as a rapper, and the line was directed at music fans and critics who called Hammer a pop artist and not a rapper. Hammer misinterpreted it as a diss and started the beef over it. "At the time people were calling hip-hop music 'pop music' and I was saying Hammer was a hip-hop artist, he’s not pop. ‘Rap is not pop, if you call it that then stop’." - Q-Tip
@@daelen.cclark Yes and yes. Q-Tip dissed Hammer back in a song called, “Keep it Moving”. Q-Tip said, and I quote: “…It was a little thing, but we sorted it out.”
How ironic that somebody with honest-to-God gang ties could cut it better as a pop-rapper than as a gangsta one. But in all honesty, from those clips of "Pumps and a Bump," it's some kind of underrated classic.
He may failed as a gangsta/aggressive oriented in "Funky Headhunter" but in "Too Tight" (Unreleased album in Death Row Records) It was much better. "I got U Bouncin" was a very wild and crazy track Hammer ever did.
It is honestly pretty weird because while it's hard to believe Hammer's front as an "OG" despite his _actual_ gang ties unlike some gangsta rappers (e.g. Dre was never a gangbanger), and some of the tracks are based on a corny/lame chorus like It's All Good, it honestly feels like a pretty good album? It just was a total artistic/image mismatch with Hammer.
His rapstyle actually have an agressive voice in his early career and his first album (Sometimes sound too hoarse to me) then started to sound much poppier in "Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em"
@@kidwaryodproductionthat’s because his first album was based on the late 80s bay sound albeit a poppy version but the beats were still hard as fuck. Listen to Too hard for the radio by Mac Dre from the early 90s and the bells will remind you of hammers early cuts
I felt inclined to come back here after seeing Todd's Trainwreckords video on Will Smith's "Lost and Found", which was almost like the 2000s version of "The Funky Headhunter". Both had presumably "squeaky clean", non-threatening rappers trying too hard to sound edgier and darker while mostly lashing out at their supposed critics.
@@grahamkristensen9301 the album before that (Rize of the Fenix) came out right after their 2 first and most popular albums and pretty much stopped their popularity so I would say that one
I'm feeling way too confused about it. On one hand, it was really uncomfortable and it made me feel weird as fuck, on the other hand, that thing is huge and I can't look away man.
MC Hammer was as legit a gangster as anyone from that era. Let's not forget he put a hit out on Third Bass, and multiple emcees from the 90's have talked about how different his actual personality was from his public persona. He was bad at portraying himself as hard, but he genuinely was.
Guess it's true what they say: people who are actually gangsta can pull it off than rappers who think they're gangsta. Case in point: Ice Cube is a legendary rapper but he was never an actual gang member or affiliated with one.
It has to suck something fierce for a cultural paradigm shift to take place that you didn't see coming and weren't invited to. I wonder how many hopeful young hair metal bands gently wept and went back to working at Walmart in 1991.
Wendy Weissman Rap these days could use a fun-loving goofball like Hammer IMO. It's all just dreary, dour trap and Jake Paul bar exceptions like Kendrick Lamar.
MyssBlewm, there were tons of them. One might say Alice in Chains was the original one, though that might be stretching it a bit too far back. Even so, listen to Winger's decent Karma, or Warrant's bad Dog Eat Dog, or Extreme's awful Waiting for the Punchline, or Dokken's abominable Shadowlife, or Shotgun Messiah's Violent New Breed, which I haven't bothered listening to at all; speaking of Dokken, Lynch Mob went one step further, and made a rap metal album. Yes, as you can guess, I'm not a fan of these albums, but they are part of the history of both genres, and are of a certain interest in that respect. Some, like Vito Bratta from White Lion, profess to have been genuinely inspired by grunge, but ended up being branded by their previous career, so that even finding work was impossible. In the case of Vito, he dropped out of the music business entirely. 1991, which the original poster mentioned, might be a bit too early to draw the threshold, though: Extreme, Slaughter and FireHouse all went multi-platinum for the first time 1990/1991 (for the two first with their debut albums), and there were still no grunge bands that could even approach the hit singles of Mr. Big or Guns N' Roses in 1992. Anecdotally, it was really only in 1994 that old-school metal went entirely out of style, and even then, FireHouse managed to score a minor hit the year after.
“Pumps and a Bump” is actually pretty good! Back in the 90s I was laughing at him like everyone else, but then I dated a stripper that could just rock it to that song!
Funky Headhunter, Crash, Be Here Now, and Passage are EASILY the winners of Trainwreckords. Edit: Cyberpunk is somewhat enjoyable as well, but not as good as the other four.
The lesson thus far from Trainwreckords is "know your limits." Jewel is no provocative pop diva, Dennis Deyoung can't write an epic story, Hammer is not gangsta. There's something to be said for taking risks, but if you're just doing something because all the other pop stars / bands / rappers are doing it, you're probably going to come across as a sad imitation.
I already knew Jewel didn't belong in the category of pop diva when Marc Mues first made his worst of 2003 hits list and Intuition kicked off the list. Just seeing the music video and hearing the song made it clear that she worked best in simple guitar songs about topics not related to parties or the club.
alexandra galici My cousin saw Jewel perform at a concert about a year before "Intuition" came out, and Jewel told the crowd that she should have spent time learning how to dance. My cousin and I thought Jewel was making a cute joke, but then "Intuition" came out and I realized Jewel was indeed not really joking.
Does this really qualify for Trainwreckords, though? The ratio of album sales for this one compared to Too Legit is similar as that from Too Legit to its predecessor. And reviews weren't significantly different either. The record didn't finish him; it just continued the trajectory he was already on. A hail mary? Yes. A missed opportunity? Maybe. But definitely not much different than what might've been expected. After all, the mid-90s was a time period where glam metal bands like Def Leppard were trying to show they were down with (and could survive) the alternative revolution. Following the trends is the most predictable path and, though it often fails, is often the safest. So not a shock, a surprise, or even a particularly outstanding flop.
A quick historical fact: MC Hammer is responsible for the popularity of modern hip hop dance. From 1989-1993 Hammer was the biggest rapper in the US, and with Please hammer Don't Hurt'em, He toured all over the world. With that that tour fans from Europe, Australia, Asia, And S. America saw New Jack swing dancing for the first time, which is the birth of many dances you see today in videos. His production was so big that many wanted to copy him and so more rappers and R&B artists used more dancers in their videos. But no one went as global as Hammer did back then. So thanks to him making dancers a priority on his tours, more people and artists did the same. With each year dancers became more prominent in videos, and now we have our own tv shows and platforms on UA-cam.
MC Hammer was a friend of Deion Sanders. Sanders was nominally still with the Falcons when The Funky Headhunter was released in March '94. Also, the Raiders didn't move back to Oakland until 1995.
Todd: Do him a favour - forget about this album Also Todd: *Makes an eighteen minute video specifically about this album which I would have known nothing about if not for it*
@@roarshach13 Hammer appreciates it, lol. But I think he's doing better having moved to aerobics and a fitness business. That works brilliantly for him and honestly should've been the move he made sooner. He has the perfect stamina for it.
@@realm23x73 it's a used book store that sells everything from books to DVDs to video games to comics and even toys! If you can find any by you I highly recommend it!
From what I hear Hammer actually *was* a gangsta who had a clean image unlike 99% of all gangsta rappers pretending to have a gang background. He threatened members of the Wu Tang Clan on set and they were legit scared of him because they knew he had influence
@@primadonna3843Thank you. I'm sick of Hammer being repainted as some sort of "Gangsta" in an attempt to get him more respect. He was never a sucker or a lame, but he most definitely wasn't a Gangsta. People act like being "gangsta" is the only way to gain respect in the hood. He just came from a family that was well respected in the streets. I grew up on High Street and I remember Hammer before he signed. I had Feel My Power (with the original cover) in the 5th grade 😂.
Yes, Fisticuffs. Exactly with these guys that sells his image on the sketch. Only thing is the shots anecdote that makes him deaf is inspired from 50 Cent.
Yeah, it's very hard to purposely sound like you can't sing, if you in fact can. Totally Hammer-unrelated story incoming but there's an episode of "Seinfeld" when we hear George's answering message (a parody of "The Great American Hero" theme" sung by him and since Jason Alexander could actually sing well IRL, they had a hard time making his singing sound amateurish and off-key
I saw Hammer a few years ago. He was the headline act but I went to see Parliament and told my wife we could split after their set. We were enjoying the whole atmosphere of the show (it was an outdoor event with a real good positive festival vibe) that we decided to stick around for what I thought was his only hit. I was never a fan and never followed his career so I assumed (incorrectly) that he only had just "Can't Touch This" as a hit. I was sorely mistaken. He came out and the crowd blew up. His music is what makes a party get up and dance. Everyone was singing along and having an absolute blast. They LOVED him. He put on a great show. He never should have tried to divert from what he does well. People always like good shows and catchy music they can dance to. His music is still not my taste, but I can appreciate what he does well and why he still draws fans. Of course, in my opinion, Cosmic Slop was still the highlight of the evening :D
How I would've pulled it off if I was Hammer's manager: 1) Keep the "edgier" dancing and the change in clothes. You change with the times, but you still keep the stuff that makes you a great showman. 2) Cut down the references to being a "gangsta" or an "OG". Again, nobody's buying it. 3) Leak stories about how fucking scary Hammer actually is. There's more than enough real stories about his gang connections. There's no reason he shouldn't be up there with Suge Knight in the Ni**as You Don't Want to Fuck With Hall of Fame. When combined with 2) it means his bark is less but his bite is still recognized. 4) Keep the feud with Q Tip, but dump the other feuds. I know Todd give him shit, but I also know Todd is a fan of Eminem; you know, the guy that feuded with Xtina and Nysnc? A dispute with a softie like Q-Tip would allow him to keep using that sample and will make him look a bit more hard, whereas feuding with Redman makes him look soft by comparison. 5) Keep everything else about the music, which I don't think is all that bad. 6) Convince him to drop a swear word or two. Nothing major, but enough to get a "Parental Advisory" sticker. 7) Dump "It's All Good". With all this I think his career could've gone at least to the late '90s.
The fact that all your advice has to do with dumb image crap and nothing to do with music, I think you've clarified just how vapid and ridiculous the entire rap and hip-hop music scene is. If only anyone in the genre cared about making actual good music, I might care. It reminds me of punk. Shitty music? Terrible "musicians"? Doesn't matter. It's all about the image and attitude man... (yes, there are some that do buck this trend, but they are way too few and far between, and even then most usually spend 75% of their efforts doing the same tired "gangsta-posing image" crap and only 25% of their efforts on reasonable quality music. Eminem is coincidentally one that immediately comes to mind.)
@@kissfan7 Not even close, but pretty much the level of discourse I have come to expect. Do you actually have a counterpoint, or do you think that old and lazy quippy insult comebacks define useful discourse?
Even PaRappa is an insulting comparison. Hammer never had any bars as good as "the skunk over here will bring you luck / the pump over here comes with a truck."
Todd basically alludes to it, but to make it clear: more than any other reason - more than the failed diss tracks, more than the "gangsta" posing, people were just SICK TO DEATH of MC Hammer. You couldn't get away from the guy for like 3 years. My guy had worn out his welcome.
This is spot on. I don't think there was a single thing he could have done to keep going like he was other than not doing all the endorsements and cartoons and whatever in the first place. It was MC Hammer's world for a few yrs.
@@JebusMatoi Taylor Swift, as overexposed as she is, at least sticks to music and mostly makes critically-acclaimed albums. Hammer was doing all sorts of commercials, he was doing frequent talk show appearances, he even had his own cartoon series (it's way more embarrassing than this album), and on top of that, he didn't have the songs to back it up.
My step father got me into Hammer. He use to play this album a lot. It may not have been for real OG's but this lame southern white boy and his dad enjoyed it. I also picked up his next album, V Inside Out, which calmed things down and was all about mellow fun. I was like the inverse-hipster: "I was into the artist after he was no longer famous."
Would MC Hammer have made a great producer? He had great showman skills, dance moves, and hype. I could see him producing live shows for established pop (rap?) stars.
If he could have held on to his money until the "glam rap" era a few years later, would he have been a natural fit for that scene? Or at least found the transition a lot more comfortable?
I think Hammer could've had a decent career as a choreographer to other pop stars throughout the 90s and into the mid 2000s. Regardless of his over-the-top outfits and general goofiness, the man had some sick moves.
3:28 - "It made about as much sense as if I, Todd, suddenly decided I'm not a UA-cam or music critic anymore. I'm now... A UNITED STATES SENATOR." I would've said that in 2012, Todd. It's a post-2016 world now, baby. Anything goes! #ToddForSenate2018
The irony is, Hammer fell into the same trap that too many rappers - indeed, too many artists of a "hardcore" genre (*coughMetallicacough) - fall into: he took himself too damned seriously. Instead of a bunch of lame diss tracks, he should have released a single or two where he pokes good-natured fun at his image, his silly Saturday morning cartoon, and his commercial endorsements. Self-deprecation is always a good move, especially if you're a celebrity whose career is on the rocks. I also agree that if Hammer had waited it out and just remained his wholesome, crowd-pleasing self, his career could have lasted even if his star cooled and dimmed. Heck, he could have collaborated with Will Smith (don't know how that would have turned out, but I think it would have been interesting).
I don't think Hammer should be compared to Metallica though, unlike Hammer, Metallica were a genuinely respected band in their genre. With Metallica it was more about them losing sight of what made them great and being unable to bring in a member with the creative capability of Cliff Burton. Although even if they did, Lars and James probably wouldn't have given them an ounce of creative freedom.
There's a minor track on this album called "Oaktown" that became very popular at Oakland Raiders games for a while. It opens with a big bass note that would get the whole Coliseum jumping and a catchy hook that everyone would sing. They won't be able to replicate that in Vegas.
You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. As a dude in his 20s during this era, I can absolutely confirm that Hammer had become such a joke at that point that it didn't matter how much fun "Pumps & A Bump" and "It's All Good" actually were. Looking back, I'd dare say both songs are probably more popular now than they were at the time they were released.
Michael Jackson was able to recover with a career resurgence a few years later(collabing with the likes of James Brown, Justin Timberlake)... MJ overcame it, while MC Hammer never recovered from his 2 flopped albums and the bankruptcy.
One thing about Hammer. He worked hard for it. He wrote the raps, choreographed, and performed the electric dancing, and essentially created the whole brand that people recognize to this day. Compare that to may artists today who just mumble and floss with simplistic beats at most. Hammer didn't always hit but at least he kept punching.
I agree with Todd, if he had ignored his critics and just kept on going, he might have survived peoples shifting tastes. Well, that and his overspending, he should have just banked it and let it sit.
Holy crap ""Pumps and a Bump" is one of those song I remember a little but remember nothing about. I never knew the artist or the title, just that hook. I never forgot it in 20 years. I guess that's something.
shakobenmyerz Lol. Yeah, I know. My point was that he was said not to have a fourth one. But yeah, those last two well they didn't exactly sell, did they?
If Hammer stayed pop rap, while still stepping up his game as a rapper-plus the G-funk production-, he could have made this album into a bona fide classic. He wasted TFH’s potential trying to follow a trend that was way outside his wheelhouse.
As someone who was a kid/teen growing up in the 90s, I always figured that MC Hammer faded into obscurity, I had no idea that OG Hammer was a thing and for that I am grateful.
The funny thing is that Hammer really was heavy in the streets. He just couldn’t convey that through his music because he was such a talented dancer and entertainer and people couldn’t see past that.
...as someone who only started being aware of musicians outside of their music in like, 2009 (and even then, I didn't start being aware of musicians outside of Radio Disney until I started watching Todd's videos), hearing about MC Hammer's backstory is kind of like if it was suddenly revealed that Bill Nye was basically both Mr. Rogers _and_ Dr. Doom.
Wow, I think this is your best Trainwreckords yet, Todd! Rap and hip hop aren't really my genres, but I find your commentary on the history and politics therein super-interesting. It seems to me that the problem with dancing in gangsta rap is that... The genre is about succeeding based solely on your personality and cred, and refusing to change or try hard for attention. In other words, you're performing because you have something you need to say, not because you want to entertain people. And dancing is all about entertainment (that kind of dancing, anyway). Also, "Why, it's almost as if I actually can touch this," that killed me.
In retrospect this project was so close to working. An album title The Funky Headhunter with a lead single Pumps and a Bump wasn't that big of a jump from Too Legit to Quit. They should have just presented it as a "Hammer is showing a little more of an edge" instead of going all in on the Gangsta image. Like you said he could have gotten ahead of the whole pop rappers with clean images a few years later.
I didnt know he was releasing a new album until the Pumps And A Bump video dropped. It was word of mouth that week, like have you seen Hammers new video and he has a boner. That song was a banger, just didnt need to see the boner. Its All Good, Somethin For The OG's, Break Em Off Somethin Proper, Oaktown were good as well. There was still an appetite for Hip Hop Hooray and Rump Shaker type songs in 1993/4 when Death Row/G-Funk wasn't playing for 5 minutes.
It's one thing to go from soft to hard or vice versa. But you can't start out as a joke then try to be taken seriously. MC Hammer trying to be gangsta after becoming famous for his parachute pants would be like Weird Al Yankovic trying to make a non-comedy album.
Well, vital difference there being that Yankovic is actually massively musically talented, both in theory and practice, lyrically, and in multiple genres and styles. He'd totally be able to pull it off.
That tells me that you know absolutely nothing about the man. Everyone in the industry knows that Hammer does NOT play. Redman has a story about Hammer coming to see him for some smack talk, etc. Hammer is from Oakland. No one from Oakland is soft.
Gangster Rap and Grunge music was what everybody got into at that point. Raving would later show up. Heck, the Fresh Prince mostly just ended up doing Tv and Movies to avoid losing relevance.
Hammer's turn as a gangsta rapper didn't work because it just came off as disingenuous and an obvious means from Hammer to keep up with the times. Lets put things in perspective, how can you go from making a song like "Pray" to making a song like "Bumps and a Bump"? It would be like if one of those '80s hair metal bands like Poison, Winger, Motley Crue, or Cinderella revamped their look and sound on a dime to keep up with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains (the "big four" of the Seattle grunge bands from the '90s).
+Terrence Clay I find it sad that that's the case--after all, Todd says that Mr. Hammer actually came from tough beginnings. So it's a shame he didn't portray that in his art, whether it was because he couldn't or because he didn't want to.
I just listened to the whole Funky Headhunter album, and it's actually pretty good. Especially the other songs-- the ones where he *isn't* dissing other rappers: "Somethin' For The OGs", "Clap Yo Hands", and "One Mo' Time". That last one has an especially smooth flow.
I thank Hammer for getting me into hiphop. Late 80s my brothers were both metal heads (I'm a fan of rock also) that road from hammer took me to gangstarr, common, tribe, wu tang and all the greats the 90s hiphop had to offer. So thanks Hammer, Idc what anyone says about him I'll always appreciate his influence on me.
Well this is clearly a big step up from the Styx episode. Todd contextualized what Hammer was about before he went "gangsta." Everyone who was there knows he was the HEIGHT! of pop rap at the very beginning of the decade, and that context completely overshadowed his attempt to be gangsta. I love the idea that Hammer might have sat out the gangsta era and come out on the other side when Pop rap was popular again. If Martin Lawrence was the progenitor to Will Smith in acting, Hammer could have been the progenitor in pop rap to Smith. Please Hammer don't hurt Big Willie!
I love this series! For another hip-hop themed episode in the future, Vanilla Ice's Mind Blowin' would be a good choice. Another soft as hell early '90s pop rapper who tried to get some street cred by changing his image and style, and it blew up in his face. Only, Ice did it by wearing flannel shirts, putting his hair in dreads, and rapping about guns and smoking lots of pot. It's also hilarious how after swearing up and down that he didn't sample Queen and David Bowie on "Ice Ice Baby", the first freakin song on Mind Blownin' samples David Bowie ("Fame")! He also dissed Marky Mark and 3rd Bass, and they didn't even respond, haha. It's also notable for "Now and Forever", which is one of THE most hilariously awful sex songs I've ever heard. "Open up dat hood and lemme check dat oil"
Honestly wonder if there'd been a song or two specifically _about_ the image transition, maybe it would have read more smoothly. Like, sample a few of his pop-rap songs to play snippets while he's on-stage, then have the main body of the song with him being gangsta offstage, to tie in his early successes without making the image shift seem fake. That way he can go from "happy funtime party guy" to "happy funtime party guy _who will put a hit out on you if you cross him."_ It could have added some verisimilitude, suggesting, "No he was always an OG, he just never let you see him mad... until now."
"A Tribe Called Quest is a bad investment" He said that about a group that just came off a number 8 position on the Billboard 200. Talk about bad timing.
The speedo schlong version was the one I, as a kid, subjected my entire city to on "The Box" again and again. (You called a number, wasted a few of your parents' hard-earned dollars, then sat back and enjoyed a video knowing everyone else had to watch it) In my defense, I moved onto the "Tha mystery of chessboxin" soon after.
As an aspiring singer I'm using this series as what not to do. Also I feel really bad for people whose first album comes out at the beginning or end of a decade.
@@BrendanJSmith it seems like beginnings of decades have holdovers from the last decade, culturally speaking. Hair metal getting snuffed out in '91 by Nirvana, Funkytown being the last big disco hit in 1980, all the indie rock bands losing steam after 2010 (M83, MGMT, Bloc Party, TV on the Radio)
@@BrendanJSmith The end of a decade and the beginning of a new one is usually the last desperate gasp of whatever had been dominant in the previous decade. Just look at disco being usurped by the MTV era in the 80's, grunge and thrash killing hair metal and new wave in the 90's, the early 2000's pop divas and boy bands being killed off by the rise of the pop punk and nu metal scenes, and club jams being killed off by trap music and Lorde clones in the 2010's. Taking all bets on what new genre in the 2020's replaces soundcloud rap and Billie Eilish clones!
@LordArikado I mean the beginning of a decade can also be the best time for new artists. All trends come and go, but being part of a new movement at the start of its dominance is always a good place to be.
OMG Hammer really didn't get why other rappers were dissing him. "I'm a sellout? Yeah dude, I sellout stadiums!" Or maybe he knew he had no real artistic integrity to begin with and he couldn't pretend to defend it so he did all that he could, which was brag about his (former) popularity and (quickly disappearing) money. Really love this new series, Todd! Can't wait for more Trainwrecords!
Any musician attacking another musician for being a "sell out" is just a hypocritical twat. Like Dr. Dre didn't move out of the hood and into a mansion first time he got a big check...
@@drifter402 Dre was gangsta, to you it's all a big game but this shit is real, all gangsta rappers started out differently to get where they are, Dre didn't have to adopt anythin', he literally grew up around it.
ah poor mc hammer. I remember the cartoons and all and I remember learning about his past. Even with the failures you have to respect him for all he did do.
1994: MC Hammer calls A Tribe Called Quest "a bad investment." 2024: A Tribe Called Quest is to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. MC Hammer is not.
MC Hammer got praise from ICE-T on his 1991 album "OG." If I recall correctly, ICE-T closed the album with a message that ended with "A shoutout to the one and only MC Hammer. A lot of people diss you. They just jealous. Fuck em!" We can only speculate about why the baddest OG on the scene admired the Hammer, but I'm guessing it was because, like ICE-T, Hammer (as of 1991) was entirely his own invention, and he conveyed a sense of total confidence in his look, his act, and his inspirational faith-and-hard work message.
The truth is Hammer was probably more connected to real gangsters than most of the hardcore rappers. Ask Redman or MC Serch about what happens when Hammer feels dissed by you.
I honestly think the best move for an MC Hammer comeback would have been to leave music behind entirely and become a Martin Lawrence/Chris Rock/Steve Harvey type and been a mostly family friendly , funny , kind , cheesy type of celebrity figure. He would probably have been the dad on that's so Raven or another Disney sitcom that was about to become a thing in a few years and he'd probably still be around today hosting some music themed game show on FOX or with a sitcom on Netflix like the one Jamie Foxx is doing. Doubling down can be bad but I think it would have made sense with him.
There wasn't that type of role in 1993. The Cosby Show had ended and MARTIN and Def Jam were the main black comedy of the mid-90s. Chris Rock has never been family friendly. Will Smith was the only safe-black guy during that period and pretty much usurped Mc Hammers fan base with Big Willie Style album. Hammer had one chance at a comeback in 1997 with the Behind The Music debut, but VH1 nor Hammer knew that that could've catapulted a new comeback single.
Seeing Hammer wearing normal clothes made me realize he was actually an attractive dude. My mental conception of him was always 'what if Urkel tried to be Michael Jackson'.
😂 funny comment!
GOAT comment!!!!
Yeah, I was thinking that. In normal clothes, he looks pretty good.
No literally i was like damn....
Hammer Urquell😏
"A Tribe Called Quest is a bad investment." Yeah I'm not taking financial advice from MC Hammer
I own EVERY ATCQ Album...
0 Hammer Albums😂
A Tribe Called Quest going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year just added more nails to that dated coffin! 😆
I mean, if Hammer is telling you it's a bad investment then it's a very good investment
What a twist that would be if Todd pulled off his hood and reveals he’s a middle aged United States Senator from the Midwest.
Jamie Kamihachi Wouln't surprise me tbh
I'd vote for him
Trump and a Bump
As far as we know
😂😂😂
"A Tribe Called Quest is a bad investment"
Wow, Hammer talking about "bad investments". That's delicious irony.
At least I would rather listen to A Tribe Called Quest than MC Hammer, because they were an actually legit 1990s rap act.
Lol for real
@Cult Mechanicus
Imagine complaining about hip hop artists criticizing the government as if it's some new thing.
This Is My Name That's like when people talk about bands like Green Day getting too political. Y'know. Same ones who probably listen to American Idiot.
Cult Mechanicus Cause he is
Q-Tip wasn’t even dissing Hammer on “Check the Rhime”. When he said “rap is not pop if you call it that and stop” he was saying that Hammer was still a hip hop artist despite being a big celebrity who had all these commercials and mainstream attention. He was defending Hammer’s place in the hip hop community and Hammer misinterpreted it as dissing him.
Oh
.drake disliked this
And then he went on a full tirade dissing Q-tip and Run D.M.C.
File MC Hammer with Snow under the “List of Rappers with Actual Street Cred That Couldn’t Make it Come Across in Their Music”
@Mister Happy Rap Critic did a video on Vanilla Ice a little while ago... While Ice didn't exactly have the same amount of street credibility as Hammer, according to RC's research, Ice still slummed it up with some local hooligans and troublemakers. It's just that, when it came out that he over-inflated his past life to the media, Ice lost pretty much all credibility, street or otherwise.
Eh, RC explains it better -- watch his video on Vanilla Ice, lol.
@@CSSLZT13 Yeah Ice might've not been a gang member but he still lived rough. But he and his label still try to make him tougher than he was and that's why he remains a joke.
whitney houston ?
@@dirtyskullss ???
@Mister Happy Beastly Boys to a degree, a lot of people thought they were white kids from the suburbs. even though they were White Kids from one of New York's worst neighborhoods
14:46 the crazy thing is that Q-Tip was DEFENDING MC Hammer as a rapper, and the line was directed at music fans and critics who called Hammer a pop artist and not a rapper. Hammer misinterpreted it as a diss and started the beef over it.
"At the time people were calling hip-hop music 'pop music' and I was saying Hammer was a hip-hop artist, he’s not pop. ‘Rap is not pop, if you call it that then stop’."
- Q-Tip
oh that hurts!!!
q-tip deserved better than to get shit-talked for being nice 😔
Thank you for clarifying that. I was wondering if that's what it was but I thought maybe I just didn't get it because I hadn't heard the full song
Hammer's rapping was actually in top form during FH, just no one was buying into his new image and sound
@@daelen.cclark Yes and yes. Q-Tip dissed Hammer back in a song called, “Keep it Moving”. Q-Tip said, and I quote: “…It was a little thing, but we sorted it out.”
Hammer is a Pop Rapper.. Nothing wrong with that.. Hammer let others tell him being a Pop Rapper was bad.. which killed his Career..
How ironic that somebody with honest-to-God gang ties could cut it better as a pop-rapper than as a gangsta one.
But in all honesty, from those clips of "Pumps and a Bump," it's some kind of underrated classic.
That’s the best analogy of MC Hammer’s career.
He may failed as a gangsta/aggressive oriented in "Funky Headhunter" but in "Too Tight" (Unreleased album in Death Row Records) It was much better.
"I got U Bouncin" was a very wild and crazy track Hammer ever did.
It is honestly pretty weird because while it's hard to believe Hammer's front as an "OG" despite his _actual_ gang ties unlike some gangsta rappers (e.g. Dre was never a gangbanger), and some of the tracks are based on a corny/lame chorus like It's All Good, it honestly feels like a pretty good album? It just was a total artistic/image mismatch with Hammer.
His rapstyle actually have an agressive voice in his early career and his first album (Sometimes sound too hoarse to me) then started to sound much poppier in "Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em"
@@kidwaryodproductionthat’s because his first album was based on the late 80s bay sound albeit a poppy version but the beats were still hard as fuck. Listen to Too hard for the radio by Mac Dre from the early 90s and the bells will remind you of hammers early cuts
I felt inclined to come back here after seeing Todd's Trainwreckords video on Will Smith's "Lost and Found", which was almost like the 2000s version of "The Funky Headhunter". Both had presumably "squeaky clean", non-threatening rappers trying too hard to sound edgier and darker while mostly lashing out at their supposed critics.
And both have a direct connection to Shark Tale.
Calling it now: we're eventually getting a Jack Black Trainwreckords episode.
@@brifox Is there any Tenacious D album that would qualify?
@@hiimemily Their last album, Post-Apocalypto was pretty bad, so let's wait a couple years and see if they recover from that.
😂 😂 😂 Same. I came directly from that video to this.
@@grahamkristensen9301 the album before that (Rize of the Fenix) came out right after their 2 first and most popular albums and pretty much stopped their popularity so I would say that one
That image of Hammer wearing a banana hammock and shaking his thing will forever be burned into my retinas.
It's one of the few times that I'm grateful that I'm blind lol
Nick Crowell I mean, he was a well built dude, so it’s not exactly painful to see. It’s just...a bit much.
I'm hungover today and wasn't expecting it so I nearly threw up
I'm feeling way too confused about it. On one hand, it was really uncomfortable and it made me feel weird as fuck, on the other hand, that thing is huge and I can't look away man.
Imagine seeing it when the video came out. I was 10. My first thought was "what the heck happened to Hammer!? 🤨"
MC Hammer was as legit a gangster as anyone from that era. Let's not forget he put a hit out on Third Bass, and multiple emcees from the 90's have talked about how different his actual personality was from his public persona. He was bad at portraying himself as hard, but he genuinely was.
Still waiting for Todd to talk about 3rd Bass
Guess it's true what they say: people who are actually gangsta can pull it off than rappers who think they're gangsta. Case in point: Ice Cube is a legendary rapper but he was never an actual gang member or affiliated with one.
Stop embellishing UA-cam stories.
His PR team was too on the point.
@@timmy841212 Also, didn't Ice Cube have a middle-class upbringing and was never raised in the hood?
I do feel really bad for MC Hammer. He tried to help a lot of people who needed it. And he never blamed anyone else for his issues. Poor guy.
It has to suck something fierce for a cultural paradigm shift to take place that you didn't see coming and weren't invited to. I wonder how many hopeful young hair metal bands gently wept and went back to working at Walmart in 1991.
Wendy Weissman Rap these days could use a fun-loving goofball like Hammer IMO. It's all just dreary, dour trap and Jake Paul bar exceptions like Kendrick Lamar.
Vatsala काली Jhaveri I wonder if there were hair metal guys who tried to reimagine themselves as grunge like MC Hammer did with his rap career.
motley crue. they ditched vince neil and tried to look and sound like alice in chians
MyssBlewm, there were tons of them. One might say Alice in Chains was the original one, though that might be stretching it a bit too far back. Even so, listen to Winger's decent Karma, or Warrant's bad Dog Eat Dog, or Extreme's awful Waiting for the Punchline, or Dokken's abominable Shadowlife, or Shotgun Messiah's Violent New Breed, which I haven't bothered listening to at all; speaking of Dokken, Lynch Mob went one step further, and made a rap metal album. Yes, as you can guess, I'm not a fan of these albums, but they are part of the history of both genres, and are of a certain interest in that respect.
Some, like Vito Bratta from White Lion, profess to have been genuinely inspired by grunge, but ended up being branded by their previous career, so that even finding work was impossible. In the case of Vito, he dropped out of the music business entirely.
1991, which the original poster mentioned, might be a bit too early to draw the threshold, though: Extreme, Slaughter and FireHouse all went multi-platinum for the first time 1990/1991 (for the two first with their debut albums), and there were still no grunge bands that could even approach the hit singles of Mr. Big or Guns N' Roses in 1992. Anecdotally, it was really only in 1994 that old-school metal went entirely out of style, and even then, FireHouse managed to score a minor hit the year after.
"Hammer vs Q-Tip" is the funniest fucking phrase I've ever heard
Fight of the household items hahaha
“Pumps and a Bump” is actually pretty good! Back in the 90s I was laughing at him like everyone else, but then I dated a stripper that could just rock it to that song!
Ah, Young love
Based
Dating a stripper is insane cuh 😂
@@Dj_Rancho6448Why? Strippers have social lives, too.
@Dynamic_Editor yeah they don't just get stored in a cupboard after work
To be fair to Hammer, this is probably the best of the albums Todd’s covered on Trainwreckords.
Funky Headhunter, Crash, Be Here Now, and Passage are EASILY the winners of Trainwreckords.
Edit: Cyberpunk is somewhat enjoyable as well, but not as good as the other four.
@@BrendanJSmith I'd kill for the masters of the cyberpunk instrumentals though
Be Here Now gets my vote
Passage for me! That album is fantastic through and through to me 🥰
@@ShadowSorel So a close 4th place then
The lesson thus far from Trainwreckords is "know your limits." Jewel is no provocative pop diva, Dennis Deyoung can't write an epic story, Hammer is not gangsta. There's something to be said for taking risks, but if you're just doing something because all the other pop stars / bands / rappers are doing it, you're probably going to come across as a sad imitation.
I already knew Jewel didn't belong in the category of pop diva when Marc Mues first made his worst of 2003 hits list and Intuition kicked off the list. Just seeing the music video and hearing the song made it clear that she worked best in simple guitar songs about topics not related to parties or the club.
alexandra galici My cousin saw Jewel perform at a concert about a year before "Intuition" came out, and Jewel told the crowd that she should have spent time learning how to dance. My cousin and I thought Jewel was making a cute joke, but then "Intuition" came out and I realized Jewel was indeed not really joking.
SR 71 ain't no Linkin Park
Fuck Mues!
"A man's GOT to know his limitations. "
I'm digging this series. Gives the One Hit Wonderland treatment to acts that don't qualify.
Since Haddaway finally got onto OHWL, could Real Mccoy qualify for train wreckords?
Still waiting for that Crazy Frog OHWL episode.
James Blunt had the number 1 album and the best selling album of the UK in the 2000s.
Malkova Floyd what is this related to?
Does this really qualify for Trainwreckords, though? The ratio of album sales for this one compared to Too Legit is similar as that from Too Legit to its predecessor. And reviews weren't significantly different either. The record didn't finish him; it just continued the trajectory he was already on. A hail mary? Yes. A missed opportunity? Maybe. But definitely not much different than what might've been expected. After all, the mid-90s was a time period where glam metal bands like Def Leppard were trying to show they were down with (and could survive) the alternative revolution. Following the trends is the most predictable path and, though it often fails, is often the safest. So not a shock, a surprise, or even a particularly outstanding flop.
Nothing more gangsta than starting off your video with a bunch of sweaty shirtless dudes doing jazz hands
😂😂😂
This made me laugh so hard, thank you
What we have seen is the rare footage of the Hammer and his posse asserting dominance by puffing up their plumage
@@DestinyKiller lol that's so great to hear
A quick historical fact: MC Hammer is responsible for the popularity of modern hip hop dance.
From 1989-1993 Hammer was the biggest rapper in the US, and with Please hammer Don't Hurt'em, He toured all over the world. With that that tour fans from Europe, Australia, Asia, And S. America saw New Jack swing dancing for the first time, which is the birth of many dances you see today in videos. His production was so big that many wanted to copy him and so more rappers and R&B artists used more dancers in their videos. But no one went as global as Hammer did back then.
So thanks to him making dancers a priority on his tours, more people and artists did the same. With each year dancers became more prominent in videos, and now we have our own tv shows and platforms on UA-cam.
Honestly besides helping to make hip hop a commercial force, that’s the second biggest contribution he had to hip-hop. Third was making gospel rap.
@@jwalk31 I think 93 is stretching that timeline a little. He was over as soon as The Chronic hit. That record rearranged hip hop.
@stevee231 I'll give you that. Maybe '93 is too far. 91-92.
I have never once referred to my ass as a bump.
PushingUpRoses I don't think anyone ever has.
It's not too late.
If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
It's never too late to start.
yeah i feel like that's something you say as an insult.
oh have you seen stacy's bump? yeah me either!
PushingUpRoses send me a picture of dat bump baby
“Drake pulled it off after Hanmer” idk man... Drake sounds like an undercover cop trying to infiltrate the rap game
And now he looks like if Dj Khaled was no longer fat 😄
Wheelchair Jimmy
Now more than ever
He probably is
@@kidwaryodproduction thing is, dj Khaled is actually funny and entertaining sometimes
Most egregious is how he transitioned from Oakland sports fan to Atlanta sports fan with no explanation
Yeah, he could have easily worn a Raiders jersey rather than a Falcons one. It's the same color!
MC Hammer was a friend of Deion Sanders. Sanders was nominally still with the Falcons when The Funky Headhunter was released in March '94. Also, the Raiders didn't move back to Oakland until 1995.
Kissing the Atlanta record industry’s ass, I’m guessing.
@@Gloryosky Still Raiders fan have more of a reputation than Falcons fan do, shootings and stabbings in the parking lot is a Raiders tradition
@@cyanmanta I can believe that because LaFace artists out of atl were really poppin at the time
1:56 so sad...
I love your show RC
Rap Critic Knew you'd be here, since you covered one of his songs from this era. :P
I'm really proud of that transition
Do another collab with Todd! You two work really well together!
Hi
This is the most likable thing Senator Johnson has ever done.
Looking at ol' RonJohn's record, I'd have to agree.
Todd: Do him a favour - forget about this album
Also Todd: *Makes an eighteen minute video specifically about this album which I would have known nothing about if not for it*
Agreed! Because of this video I actually bought the album at a local book off. I actually screamed in delight when I found it.
@@roarshach13 Hammer appreciates it, lol. But I think he's doing better having moved to aerobics and a fitness business. That works brilliantly for him and honestly should've been the move he made sooner. He has the perfect stamina for it.
Honestly I really like the songs themselves.
@@roarshach13 the book off?
@@realm23x73 it's a used book store that sells everything from books to DVDs to video games to comics and even toys! If you can find any by you I highly recommend it!
From what I hear Hammer actually *was* a gangsta who had a clean image unlike 99% of all gangsta rappers pretending to have a gang background. He threatened members of the Wu Tang Clan on set and they were legit scared of him because they knew he had influence
@sage Oh, I might have missremembered it. It was redman who told the story
Link?
@@infectedanimal9830 ua-cam.com/video/aOHupZPsWD0/v-deo.html&ab_channel=djvlad
his brother was a gangster he wasnt so if he were to go there he could but he had too much integrety for that.
@@primadonna3843Thank you. I'm sick of Hammer being repainted as some sort of "Gangsta" in an attempt to get him more respect. He was never a sucker or a lame, but he most definitely wasn't a Gangsta. People act like being "gangsta" is the only way to gain respect in the hood. He just came from a family that was well respected in the streets. I grew up on High Street and I remember Hammer before he signed. I had Feel My Power (with the original cover) in the 5th grade 😂.
hardcore thug MC Hammer looks like a Chappelle Show parody of if MC Hammer did gangsta rap.
When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong
Yes, Fisticuffs.
Exactly with these guys that sells his image on the sketch.
Only thing is the shots anecdote that makes him deaf is inspired from 50 Cent.
The ironic thing about that Pepsi commercial is that his singing voice actually sounds pretty good.
Yeah, it's very hard to purposely sound like you can't sing, if you in fact can. Totally Hammer-unrelated story incoming but there's an episode of "Seinfeld" when we hear George's answering message (a parody of "The Great American Hero" theme" sung by him and since Jason Alexander could actually sing well IRL, they had a hard time making his singing sound amateurish and off-key
I saw Hammer a few years ago. He was the headline act but I went to see Parliament and told my wife we could split after their set. We were enjoying the whole atmosphere of the show (it was an outdoor event with a real good positive festival vibe) that we decided to stick around for what I thought was his only hit. I was never a fan and never followed his career so I assumed (incorrectly) that he only had just "Can't Touch This" as a hit. I was sorely mistaken. He came out and the crowd blew up. His music is what makes a party get up and dance. Everyone was singing along and having an absolute blast. They LOVED him. He put on a great show. He never should have tried to divert from what he does well. People always like good shows and catchy music they can dance to. His music is still not my taste, but I can appreciate what he does well and why he still draws fans. Of course, in my opinion, Cosmic Slop was still the highlight of the evening :D
Todd saying "I'm a tuffy" is the greatest thing ever
How I would've pulled it off if I was Hammer's manager:
1) Keep the "edgier" dancing and the change in clothes. You change with the times, but you still keep the stuff that makes you a great showman.
2) Cut down the references to being a "gangsta" or an "OG". Again, nobody's buying it.
3) Leak stories about how fucking scary Hammer actually is. There's more than enough real stories about his gang connections. There's no reason he shouldn't be up there with Suge Knight in the Ni**as You Don't Want to Fuck With Hall of Fame. When combined with 2) it means his bark is less but his bite is still recognized.
4) Keep the feud with Q Tip, but dump the other feuds. I know Todd give him shit, but I also know Todd is a fan of Eminem; you know, the guy that feuded with Xtina and Nysnc? A dispute with a softie like Q-Tip would allow him to keep using that sample and will make him look a bit more hard, whereas feuding with Redman makes him look soft by comparison.
5) Keep everything else about the music, which I don't think is all that bad.
6) Convince him to drop a swear word or two. Nothing major, but enough to get a "Parental Advisory" sticker.
7) Dump "It's All Good". With all this I think his career could've gone at least to the late '90s.
I agree!!!
Even then, he could probably have a few lines about how he could still be scary af and still be clean.
The fact that all your advice has to do with dumb image crap and nothing to do with music, I think you've clarified just how vapid and ridiculous the entire rap and hip-hop music scene is. If only anyone in the genre cared about making actual good music, I might care. It reminds me of punk. Shitty music? Terrible "musicians"? Doesn't matter. It's all about the image and attitude man... (yes, there are some that do buck this trend, but they are way too few and far between, and even then most usually spend 75% of their efforts doing the same tired "gangsta-posing image" crap and only 25% of their efforts on reasonable quality music. Eminem is coincidentally one that immediately comes to mind.)
@@BTheBlindRef
OK, boomer.
@@kissfan7 Not even close, but pretty much the level of discourse I have come to expect. Do you actually have a counterpoint, or do you think that old and lazy quippy insult comebacks define useful discourse?
Even PaRappa is an insulting comparison. Hammer never had any bars as good as "the skunk over here will bring you luck / the pump over here comes with a truck."
“Pumps in a truck, pumps in a truck”
♪Crack crack crack
the egg into the bowl♪
AAAUUUUUGH!!!!
Shots fired, God Damn!
"In tha rain or in tha snow,got tha funky funky flow!"
Todd basically alludes to it, but to make it clear: more than any other reason - more than the failed diss tracks, more than the "gangsta" posing, people were just SICK TO DEATH of MC Hammer. You couldn't get away from the guy for like 3 years. My guy had worn out his welcome.
Now you know how I've felt about Taylor Swift for over 15 years.
This is spot on. I don't think there was a single thing he could have done to keep going like he was other than not doing all the endorsements and cartoons and whatever in the first place. It was MC Hammer's world for a few yrs.
>literally any other famous person
@@JebusMatoi Taylor Swift, as overexposed as she is, at least sticks to music and mostly makes critically-acclaimed albums.
Hammer was doing all sorts of commercials, he was doing frequent talk show appearances, he even had his own cartoon series (it's way more embarrassing than this album), and on top of that, he didn't have the songs to back it up.
u make way more sense then the guy in the video, it had much less to do with him growing as an artist just the over exposure
I say "I'm a toughie!" when mocking my kitten now.
My step father got me into Hammer. He use to play this album a lot. It may not have been for real OG's but this lame southern white boy and his dad enjoyed it. I also picked up his next album, V Inside Out, which calmed things down and was all about mellow fun. I was like the inverse-hipster: "I was into the artist after he was no longer famous."
The inverse hipster, I love it 😂😂😂🙌
Would MC Hammer have made a great producer? He had great showman skills, dance moves, and hype. I could see him producing live shows for established pop (rap?) stars.
planclops yup. What a waist
If he could have held on to his money until the "glam rap" era a few years later, would he have been a natural fit for that scene? Or at least found the transition a lot more comfortable?
Maybe he could've been what DJ Khaled is today.
He was basically the original Diddy but flamed out too soon
I think Hammer could've had a decent career as a choreographer to other pop stars throughout the 90s and into the mid 2000s. Regardless of his over-the-top outfits and general goofiness, the man had some sick moves.
3:28 - "It made about as much sense as if I, Todd, suddenly decided I'm not a UA-cam or music critic anymore. I'm now... A UNITED STATES SENATOR."
I would've said that in 2012, Todd. It's a post-2016 world now, baby. Anything goes! #ToddForSenate2018
You mean #ToddForSenate2020
#toddforsenate2020
@@achair650 you mean #ToddForSenate2020
@@cybercrasherstv that's.....that's what I said.....are you talking about the capitalization?
@@achair650 yes, yes I was
To be honest, we won't know if Todd is actually a U.S. Senator until we see his face.
The irony is, Hammer fell into the same trap that too many rappers - indeed, too many artists of a "hardcore" genre (*coughMetallicacough) - fall into: he took himself too damned seriously. Instead of a bunch of lame diss tracks, he should have released a single or two where he pokes good-natured fun at his image, his silly Saturday morning cartoon, and his commercial endorsements. Self-deprecation is always a good move, especially if you're a celebrity whose career is on the rocks. I also agree that if Hammer had waited it out and just remained his wholesome, crowd-pleasing self, his career could have lasted even if his star cooled and dimmed. Heck, he could have collaborated with Will Smith (don't know how that would have turned out, but I think it would have been interesting).
Is it sad that the last time I saw Hammer he was trying to sell me a packet of Skittles?
I would kill to see Will Smith and Hammer make a song together. Shit would've been magical
@@daneray9594 Did you take the Skittles?
@@inaccurateprophecy8971 Yes. I love Skittles.
I don't think Hammer should be compared to Metallica though, unlike Hammer, Metallica were a genuinely respected band in their genre. With Metallica it was more about them losing sight of what made them great and being unable to bring in a member with the creative capability of Cliff Burton. Although even if they did, Lars and James probably wouldn't have given them an ounce of creative freedom.
There's a minor track on this album called "Oaktown" that became very popular at Oakland Raiders games for a while. It opens with a big bass note that would get the whole Coliseum jumping and a catchy hook that everyone would sing. They won't be able to replicate that in Vegas.
You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. As a dude in his 20s during this era, I can absolutely confirm that Hammer had become such a joke at that point that it didn't matter how much fun "Pumps & A Bump" and "It's All Good" actually were. Looking back, I'd dare say both songs are probably more popular now than they were at the time they were released.
In 1993 in school, it was a race with Michael Jackson and MC Hammer as to who was whacker.
Michael Jackson was able to recover with a career resurgence a few years later(collabing with the likes of James Brown, Justin Timberlake)...
MJ overcame it, while MC Hammer never recovered from his 2 flopped albums and the bankruptcy.
One thing about Hammer. He worked hard for it. He wrote the raps, choreographed, and performed the electric dancing, and essentially created the whole brand that people recognize to this day. Compare that to may artists today who just mumble and floss with simplistic beats at most. Hammer didn't always hit but at least he kept punching.
I agree with Todd, if he had ignored his critics and just kept on going, he might have survived peoples shifting tastes.
Well, that and his overspending, he should have just banked it and let it sit.
Holy crap ""Pumps and a Bump" is one of those song I remember a little but remember nothing about. I never knew the artist or the title, just that hook. I never forgot it in 20 years. I guess that's something.
Pumped in the butt hammer likes to get pumped in the butt
Your delivery of “He was 2 Legit 2 Quit spending” is one of my favorite line reads
" THATS TOO MUCH HAMMER AT ONCE- "
Todd, im fricken sobbing.
Turns out, when MC Hammer was saying "you can't touch this", he was actually referring to his not being able to touch a fourth record.
Asmodean Underscore V: Inside Out?
The only reason I know about that album is that I saw it listed on bmg (or columbia house) order forms a long time ago.
@@joelbaldwin4051 That would actually be his 5TH record, as hinted by the title. You know what it couldn't touch? The charts!
shakobenmyerz Lol. Yeah, I know. My point was that he was said not to have a fourth one. But yeah, those last two well they didn't exactly sell, did they?
I've been blinded by MC Hammer's...... hammer.
(The Hammer is his penis.)
This really takes another spin to the line Hammer Time.
So that's why he's called Hammer!
The Idea of MC Hammer dissing Q-Tip is just incredibly funny to me. It's like if Pitbull tried to start a beef with Kendrick Lamar
Or Drake......lol
What kills me about this is that the album is actually pretty good sonically.
The Beats are 🔥🔥🔥 and why i honestly kinda like This album
@@wojosquad4680 Yeah, the production on the album is phenomenal.
If Hammer stayed pop rap, while still stepping up his game as a rapper-plus the G-funk production-, he could have made this album into a bona fide classic. He wasted TFH’s potential trying to follow a trend that was way outside his wheelhouse.
As someone who was a kid/teen growing up in the 90s, I always figured that MC Hammer faded into obscurity, I had no idea that OG Hammer was a thing and for that I am grateful.
“It’s like finding out Carl Sagan and Mr. Rogers had a fist fight!”. LMAO!!!
The funny thing is that Hammer really was heavy in the streets. He just couldn’t convey that through his music because he was such a talented dancer and entertainer and people couldn’t see past that.
1:12 "You see, the best way to not lose all of your money is to *keep making money.*"
-Noted economic expert Todd in the Shadows, 2018
...as someone who only started being aware of musicians outside of their music in like, 2009 (and even then, I didn't start being aware of musicians outside of Radio Disney until I started watching Todd's videos), hearing about MC Hammer's backstory is kind of like if it was suddenly revealed that Bill Nye was basically both Mr. Rogers _and_ Dr. Doom.
MC Hammer was good friends with Tupac Shakur and hung out with him the day he died.
Wow, I think this is your best Trainwreckords yet, Todd! Rap and hip hop aren't really my genres, but I find your commentary on the history and politics therein super-interesting. It seems to me that the problem with dancing in gangsta rap is that... The genre is about succeeding based solely on your personality and cred, and refusing to change or try hard for attention. In other words, you're performing because you have something you need to say, not because you want to entertain people. And dancing is all about entertainment (that kind of dancing, anyway). Also, "Why, it's almost as if I actually can touch this," that killed me.
At 3:50, I was sincerely expecting a “as far as you know” joke. I miss the classics. Still a great episode.
"it's almost like I can touch this" is the funniest thing I have heard in a very long time
In retrospect this project was so close to working. An album title The Funky Headhunter with a lead single Pumps and a Bump wasn't that big of a jump from Too Legit to Quit. They should have just presented it as a "Hammer is showing a little more of an edge" instead of going all in on the Gangsta image. Like you said he could have gotten ahead of the whole pop rappers with clean images a few years later.
I didnt know he was releasing a new album until the Pumps And A Bump video dropped. It was word of mouth that week, like have you seen Hammers new video and he has a boner. That song was a banger, just didnt need to see the boner. Its All Good, Somethin For The OG's, Break Em Off Somethin Proper, Oaktown were good as well. There was still an appetite for Hip Hop Hooray and Rump Shaker type songs in 1993/4 when Death Row/G-Funk wasn't playing for 5 minutes.
"it's almost like i CAN touch this"
😂😂😂😂
Todd in the Shadows for Senate.
#Nathenson2020
B Huse #Munson2020
TITS (Todd in the Senate.)
It's one thing to go from soft to hard or vice versa. But you can't start out as a joke then try to be taken seriously.
MC Hammer trying to be gangsta after becoming famous for his parachute pants would be like Weird Al Yankovic trying to make a non-comedy album.
Well, vital difference there being that Yankovic is actually massively musically talented, both in theory and practice, lyrically, and in multiple genres and styles. He'd totally be able to pull it off.
Ironically, Hammer actually has much more credibility as a gangster than most who advertise themselves in the industry that way.
That tells me that you know absolutely nothing about the man. Everyone in the industry knows that Hammer does NOT play. Redman has a story about Hammer coming to see him for some smack talk, etc. Hammer is from Oakland. No one from Oakland is soft.
@@LiquidDIOLike Todd said in the video, Hammer may be serious IRL, but he definitely did not portray himself that way in his music. Well, at first.
mymentor no he really doesn’t
Trainwreckords taught me that The Chronic is just Nirvana Killed my Career but for rap
Wow, Hammer could actually rap. He's no Rakim but his flow was pretty solid. Plus he had some vocal range with that bassy style. Huh.
How dare you diss Parappa the Rapper Todd
parappa's writing a diss track right now
@Jack Woodrick 3? There are only 2, or are you counting Um Jammer Lamy?
The voice actor for Parappa is actually a dick in real life, so diss away!
Dred Foxx? more like dead to me foxx
@@cannibalisticrequiem damn i didn't need to know that
I actually have no idea why MC Hammer stopped being relevant. So that moment at 2:00 was PRICELESS
Gangster Rap and Grunge music was what everybody got into at that point. Raving would later show up.
Heck, the Fresh Prince mostly just ended up doing Tv and Movies to avoid losing relevance.
Hammer's turn as a gangsta rapper didn't work because it just came off as disingenuous and an obvious means from Hammer to keep up with the times. Lets put things in perspective, how can you go from making a song like "Pray" to making a song like "Bumps and a Bump"? It would be like if one of those '80s hair metal bands like Poison, Winger, Motley Crue, or Cinderella revamped their look and sound on a dime to keep up with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains (the "big four" of the Seattle grunge bands from the '90s).
+Terrence Clay I find it sad that that's the case--after all, Todd says that Mr. Hammer actually came from tough beginnings. So it's a shame he didn't portray that in his art, whether it was because he couldn't or because he didn't want to.
alexandra galici To be fair, Will Smith got lucky landing on t.v., so he got to kinda dodge all that...for the most part.
@@TMC1982Part2 Poison actually did try to go the grunge route. 😖
9:18 Who knew Hammer invented the Carameldansen meme.
"Yeah, it's like I almost *can* touch this" -- pure gold my man!
I just listened to the whole Funky Headhunter album, and it's actually pretty good. Especially the other songs-- the ones where he *isn't* dissing other rappers: "Somethin' For The OGs", "Clap Yo Hands", and "One Mo' Time". That last one has an especially smooth flow.
Awesome, love this series. Never expected to see Todd talk about Hammer.
Now here's how it started
A long time ago
The story of Hammer's career
And how it began to blow
Bravo, sir! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Good to see this series is still going on. I think this may be my personal favorite series you've made
I thank Hammer for getting me into hiphop. Late 80s my brothers were both metal heads (I'm a fan of rock also) that road from hammer took me to gangstarr, common, tribe, wu tang and all the greats the 90s hiphop had to offer.
So thanks Hammer, Idc what anyone says about him I'll always appreciate his influence on me.
“Why, it’s almost like I CAN touch this.”
Care to explain why this is the best line in the entire vid?
When I hear "Pumps and a Bump", all I think about is that video with the Speedo.
PHSDM104 "Speedo"? That's a classic doo-wop song by the Cadillacs.
MTN Productions “Joe Stalin’s Cadillac”? Classic Camper Van Beethoven track.
Well this is clearly a big step up from the Styx episode. Todd contextualized what Hammer was about before he went "gangsta." Everyone who was there knows he was the HEIGHT! of pop rap at the very beginning of the decade, and that context completely overshadowed his attempt to be gangsta.
I love the idea that Hammer might have sat out the gangsta era and come out on the other side when Pop rap was popular again. If Martin Lawrence was the progenitor to Will Smith in acting, Hammer could have been the progenitor in pop rap to Smith. Please Hammer don't hurt Big Willie!
I love this series!
For another hip-hop themed episode in the future, Vanilla Ice's Mind Blowin' would be a good choice. Another soft as hell early '90s pop rapper who tried to get some street cred by changing his image and style, and it blew up in his face. Only, Ice did it by wearing flannel shirts, putting his hair in dreads, and rapping about guns and smoking lots of pot. It's also hilarious how after swearing up and down that he didn't sample Queen and David Bowie on "Ice Ice Baby", the first freakin song on Mind Blownin' samples David Bowie ("Fame")! He also dissed Marky Mark and 3rd Bass, and they didn't even respond, haha.
It's also notable for "Now and Forever", which is one of THE most hilariously awful sex songs I've ever heard. "Open up dat hood and lemme check dat oil"
Vanilla Ice never had any cred to begin with. You can't wreck something that's already destroyed.
His nu metal album is even funnier
@@usernameof5 Seriously? I'd pay to hear that shit!
And the movie.
Oh lord, the movie...
@@usernameof5 It sounds like a Limp Bizkit reject lol
Honestly wonder if there'd been a song or two specifically _about_ the image transition, maybe it would have read more smoothly. Like, sample a few of his pop-rap songs to play snippets while he's on-stage, then have the main body of the song with him being gangsta offstage, to tie in his early successes without making the image shift seem fake. That way he can go from "happy funtime party guy" to "happy funtime party guy _who will put a hit out on you if you cross him."_ It could have added some verisimilitude, suggesting, "No he was always an OG, he just never let you see him mad... until now."
"A Tribe Called Quest is a bad investment" He said that about a group that just came off a number 8 position on the Billboard 200. Talk about bad timing.
Trainwreckords: "Results May Vary" by Limp Bizkit.
Cable B Just any Flaccid Pancake record really
@@diegobadalucco333 Is that a JoJo reference?!
It was a really successful record.
Drogon The Funky Headhunter sold more copies than Results May Vary.
Yeah when someone in the comments section for Worse Rock Covers that the Behind Blue Eyes was the best thing on that album its a damning statement.
Come on, we know what that Pepsi commercial was all about.
Coke made him "white" and the cure (Pepsi) brought him back to blackness lol
😂😂😂 It was funny af
Bart Simpson did not try to go gangsta in following up "I Didn't Do It"
Mike Lippenkrantz this is the best comment here and I've read them all
Proper
The speedo schlong version was the one I, as a kid, subjected my entire city to on "The Box" again and again. (You called a number, wasted a few of your parents' hard-earned dollars, then sat back and enjoyed a video knowing everyone else had to watch it)
In my defense, I moved onto the "Tha mystery of chessboxin" soon after.
13:53 "Who benefitted from that?"
Eazy E. He got a cut of every record Dre released for a bit. And he let us all know in his album.
As an aspiring singer I'm using this series as what not to do. Also I feel really bad for people whose first album comes out at the beginning or end of a decade.
There's no one formula of do or do not. Just be you and ride that you-ness.
Why would coming out at the beginning or end of a decade matter?
@@BrendanJSmith it seems like beginnings of decades have holdovers from the last decade, culturally speaking. Hair metal getting snuffed out in '91 by Nirvana, Funkytown being the last big disco hit in 1980, all the indie rock bands losing steam after 2010 (M83, MGMT, Bloc Party, TV on the Radio)
@@BrendanJSmith The end of a decade and the beginning of a new one is usually the last desperate gasp of whatever had been dominant in the previous decade. Just look at disco being usurped by the MTV era in the 80's, grunge and thrash killing hair metal and new wave in the 90's, the early 2000's pop divas and boy bands being killed off by the rise of the pop punk and nu metal scenes, and club jams being killed off by trap music and Lorde clones in the 2010's. Taking all bets on what new genre in the 2020's replaces soundcloud rap and Billie Eilish clones!
@LordArikado I mean the beginning of a decade can also be the best time for new artists. All trends come and go, but being part of a new movement at the start of its dominance is always a good place to be.
OMG Hammer really didn't get why other rappers were dissing him. "I'm a sellout? Yeah dude, I sellout stadiums!" Or maybe he knew he had no real artistic integrity to begin with and he couldn't pretend to defend it so he did all that he could, which was brag about his (former) popularity and (quickly disappearing) money.
Really love this new series, Todd! Can't wait for more Trainwrecords!
Any musician attacking another musician for being a "sell out" is just a hypocritical twat. Like Dr. Dre didn't move out of the hood and into a mansion first time he got a big check...
Even then Dre was never a gangsta. He also adopted the image.
@@drifter402 Dre was gangsta, to you it's all a big game but this shit is real, all gangsta rappers started out differently to get where they are, Dre didn't have to adopt anythin', he literally grew up around it.
ah poor mc hammer. I remember the cartoons and all and I remember learning about his past. Even with the failures you have to respect him for all he did do.
“A Tribe Called Quest is a bad investment” walked so “heart full of equity you’re an asset” could run
Good to see you still making great content Todd. Love the videos. Never stop.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE MAGICAL SHOES?
Scott Sandler They were chucked in The Dip.
Hammer had to sell them to pay back his debts.
They were stolen by The Mask
Holy shit that's right!!! ~_~
Bluecho4 and then they were chucked in the dip
1994: MC Hammer calls A Tribe Called Quest "a bad investment."
2024: A Tribe Called Quest is to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. MC Hammer is not.
Biggest burn ever
MC Hammer got praise from ICE-T on his 1991 album "OG." If I recall correctly, ICE-T closed the album with a message that ended with "A shoutout to the one and only MC Hammer. A lot of people diss you. They just jealous. Fuck em!" We can only speculate about why the baddest OG on the scene admired the Hammer, but I'm guessing it was because, like ICE-T, Hammer (as of 1991) was entirely his own invention, and he conveyed a sense of total confidence in his look, his act, and his inspirational faith-and-hard work message.
7:57 - Todd...that may be the best joke you've ever made on your channel, period. A+ ☠️⚰️☠️
The truth is Hammer was probably more connected to real gangsters than most of the hardcore rappers. Ask Redman or MC Serch about what happens when Hammer feels dissed by you.
Not even Tupac could save Hammer's career.
In a interview hammer said that pac wrote unconstitutional love for him
MC Hammer is those few Western dancers who I can think have similar levels of K-pop idols dancing (along with Usher)
Honestly, MC Hammer is one of the best dancers I've ever seen as a young man
5 years later and Todd saying GRRRRR is still stuck in my mind and i dont think it'll ever get out
I honestly think the best move for an MC Hammer comeback would have been to leave music behind entirely and become a Martin Lawrence/Chris Rock/Steve Harvey type and been a mostly family friendly , funny , kind , cheesy type of celebrity figure. He would probably have been the dad on that's so Raven or another Disney sitcom that was about to become a thing in a few years and he'd probably still be around today hosting some music themed game show on FOX or with a sitcom on Netflix like the one Jamie Foxx is doing. Doubling down can be bad but I think it would have made sense with him.
There wasn't that type of role in 1993. The Cosby Show had ended and MARTIN and Def Jam were the main black comedy of the mid-90s. Chris Rock has never been family friendly. Will Smith was the only safe-black guy during that period and pretty much usurped Mc Hammers fan base with Big Willie Style album. Hammer had one chance at a comeback in 1997 with the Behind The Music debut, but VH1 nor Hammer knew that that could've catapulted a new comeback single.
"...the truest of macks. A street soldier, *definitely* on a mission" sounds so sarcastic.