Today we've got another member in the "Five Timers" club-- 5 being the max number of first series cards that Pro Set gave any particular artist. Acts we've seen bestowed with this top honor so far are George Michael, Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Led Zeppelin. Those are some all-time greats, no doubt, but the 5x Club's A-Lister pedigree gets a bit diluted with its last two members. We're on track to cover Vanilla Ice next year, but here's M.C. Hammer.
But sure, when this set was being put together, Hammer was on top of the world. 1990's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em was riding high as the first album by a singular rapper to top the pop charts. So you can't fault Pro Set for going all-in. A Hammer supercollector would have a whopping total of 19 MusiCards to hunt down: these 5 in series one, then 4 in the UK edition, a couple different promo cards, and then 8 in the Yo! MTV Raps sister set. That bests Madonna's 16 cards to claim the crown of Most MusiCards-- but of course she doesn't get the benefit of also being in the rap set.
Most of the images Pro Set used are from posed photoshoots, but the back of card #122 mixes it up with a live pic. And the headshot on the back of #123 might look familiar..
It's cropped from the same suit-and-tie photo from the Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em album cover.
Boasting about himself over a sample of "Super Freak" somehow really resonated with listeners, and "U Can't Touch This" pushed rap more mainstream than it had ever gone before.
Further hit singles were "Pray" (borrowing heavily from Prince's "When Doves Cry") and "Have You Seen Her" (updating an old Chi-Lites song). It didn't take long for his shiny suits and parachute pants to fall out of fashion, and he was back with a less-frills look for 1991's Too Legit To Quit. He also dropped the "M.C." from his stage name by then. That album's title track and "Addams Groove" were Hammer's last big hits. By 1994's The Funky Headhunter, the rise of gangsta rap had left Hammer's clean-cut image uncool, and his attempts to rebrand himself as being "hard" were met with derision. He had frittered away his fortune and ended up filing for bankruptcy soon thereafter.
As for me, I was in middle school during Hammer's heyday, so his PG-rated rap was right up my alley. I remember liking his early minor hits "Turn This Mutha Out" and "Let's Get It Started". My best friend Doug bought Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em on cassette when it was hot, and I can remember days of hanging out at his house after school and listening to that tape on a near daily basis. When "Too Legit To Quit" came out, I had fun doing the hand gestures that accompany it, but that was right around the time Nevermind dropped, and I was soon swept up by alternative rock.
Card #126 may be of slightly more interest to us baseball card collectors thanks to the inclusion of the origin story on the back name-checking the great Hank Aaron. Reggie Jackson also likes to take credit for coming up with the "Hammer" nickname, but the less-remembered Pedro Garcia gets credit for noticing the obvious resemblance this time.
Young Hammer's time in MLB was a fascinating tidbit to his burgeoning stardom. Years back, I was commissioned to make custom cards using a couple pictures from those days. I suppose that'll suffice for this post's Custom Corner:
The accuracy of text on the back of his MusiCards is questionable at times. For one thing, they say his real name is Kirk Burrell, but it's actually Stanley Kirk Burrell (though maybe he went by his middle name sometimes?). For those wanting to dig deeper into his story, here's the link to his long Wikipedia entry.
How about you readers? Did you hand-gesture along to "Too Legit To Quit" back in the day? Please sound off in the comments if you've got any Hammer thoughts/memories to share.
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