Customer Reviews

Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

MC Hammer (and later, just Hammer) was one of those musical performers who can be likened to a shooting star. He burned brightly for a brief moment and then flamed out. Unlike other performers who had this fate befall them, Hammer's disappearance was not because of drug problems or any violent criminal issues. He simply stopped making good music. Yet, for the brief period he was on top, he was among the brightest of the stars in the musical sky.

"Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em" was his second album, but the first to truly make an impact on the music charts. "Can't Touch This", a rap-dance track that borrowed liberally from funkmeister Rick James' hit "Super Freak", ignited the frenzy of fans clamoring to hear his music on the radio and in clubs. He continued to churn out hits with his remake of the Chi-Lites "Have You Seen Her" and with his 'signature' tune "Here Comes the Hammer" (The 'signature' tune being a device employed by many rappers in the late 80's and early 90's to announce their arrival on the hip-hop scene with in the form of a music track on their debut album. See Snoop Dogg's "Who Am I? (What's My Name?)" for a good example).

The best track off "Please Hammer..." is "Pray". It's an inspiring track based in Hammer's gospel tendencies and borrowing its beat from Prince's "When Dove Cry". It's a fun track to listen to and the accompanying video is Hammer at his best. It was the second major hit off this album and helped push Hammer into the stratosphere of musical stardom. His stay there may have been brief, but oh what a ride it was!

This Album is one of my favourites! Pure energy, dance, movin',
groovin',"Dancin, Dancin, HAMMER!!" I love it, and it's righteous too!! Some of the best artists like Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and also MC HAMMER come straight out of the church, not staight outta Compton, and that's a good thing!
MC Hammer puts his gospel roots to good use in this doo-wop-um-bop classic. He speaks from the heart and does in his own righteous way. He spins, moves, shouts, raps and tears the house down! This album is one of the only albums that really gets me pumped and energized!! I cant really put a finger on what the music does, but it just gives me new energy.
Every song is great on this album.Here are my favourites,
U Cant touch this - Never overplayed, this song is tight!
Yo!! Sweetness - This song makes me want to shout HOOOOO!!!!!
On Your Face - This one is a gem. "Aint it funny that the way you feel shows on your face, and no matter how ya try to hide it, it'll state your case" That is so true.
DANCIN' MACINE - Forget about the Jacksons, this is the real thing!! I cant help listening to this song without groovin' on the spot! HAMMER!!!!!!!!!! Ughh!! love it!
Pray - This one is timeless! "Thats what we pray"
Crime Story - "Homeboy, You get no Glory!! And I aint givin em no proppers!!" Maybe all those studio gangsters should take a hint from the Hammer.......really!
She's Soft and Wet - Honest and straight to the point! We guys know what we want and Hammer is just bein real about it!
No song in history is as righteous and honest about this subject.
Most artists are just crude and vulgar when singin about it.
Work This - It took me a while to get into this one, but I really dig the energy in it!
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No wonder this Album is the biggest #1 Album of the 1990's
Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em spent 21 weeks at #1. Most weeks since Princes' Purple Rain (24 weeks at #1)and as of 2003 no album has spent that long of a period at #1.Check the Billboard
books if you don't believe me.
This album is a Masterpiece that will live on for years to come.

So after I lost all of my CDs in a burglary, one of my friends helpfully thought to get my new music collection started with...MC Hammer! Popping it into the CD player reminded me why MC Hammer was super-cool for about a year and a half.

It's an uneven album. There are some great, if dated, songs on this album. "U Can't Touch This" really was good, and "Pray" has worn surprisingly well. On the other hand, some of the other songs, like "Crime Story" and "Have You Seen Her" are just plodding. And the album ends really weakly, with hardly any rapping on "Let's Go Deeper" and "Work This."

If you buy CDs for just one or two songs, there's some nostalgia value here, and you'll have the only car on the block with MC Hammer blasting out your windows. On the other hand, it's really not an album to listen to in its entirety, even if you're on a nostalgia trip.

Poor old Hammer cops a bit of a bashing nowdays, but back in his day you really have to admit he was entertaining.
Sure rap and dance music has come along way since then, but give Hammer a break, he blazed a trail for the future.
This cd doesn't really stand up in todays market and "U Can't Touch This" is pretty much the only track I get a kick out of (even if nostalgia has alot to do with it).
If you were a Hammer fan and don't own it, you will still enjoy "U Can't Touch This", on the other hand, if you don't know who Hammer is and are looking to enhance your rap collection ... spend your money elswhere.
It's not BAD music. Rap has just changed so much since the days of Hammer and Co. Throw your memory back to Breakdance, for example ... imagine modern day rappers doing the "electric boog-a-loo". The difference is, the definition of COOL has changed.
If poppin' a cap in a homeboy is cool, don't buy this cd. If Breakdance is cool, maybe you'd like Hammer.

I loved and still love Hammer music. His heart was big when he became famous, he tried to help family and friends. If Hammer had invested wisely, I feel he would still be "in the mix" today. He brought real dance music into the scene and he did not have to use the profanity that is in today's music. I hope Hammer decides to re-enter the scene and that he comes out stronger than ever before. Just limit the amount of money given to family and friends. GO HAMMER!...

This album brings you back to a time where you didn't need to be shot 9 times to get a record deal, it was actually about skills and not many mcs could rock a flow and show the way MC Hammer could, that's why this album sold over 10 million albums,you
can't deny tracks like "U Can't Touch This", "Pray", "Black Is Black", "Can U See Her"and "Save The Children",


If you appreciate hip-hop music that's fun and has a message unlike a lot of the crap out today that promotes violence and negativity then this album's for you, buy this album and every other MC Hammer while you're at it, he's a legend, peace

MC Hammer's second album was very catchy all the way through! A lot of repetition on many of the songs, but they keep you coming back. I still like U Can't Touch This! I especially like the positive songs Pray, Help the Children and the very social conscious song, Black is Black. But he had some funky grooves in Yo Sweetness, Crime Story, Dancin' Machine, and Here Comes The Hammer! He had some good raps to blend well with the songs. I was surprised that it later sold over 10 million or so and won many awards afterwards!

Mc Hammer's debut was great, he thought it would last but unfortunetly it didn't. Good songs while it lasted though.

The biggest idiocy is the belief that MC Hammer was a lame rapper who damaged Rap and its credibility.

It is because of MC Hammer that rappers are living in multi-million dollar mansions and driving around in Bentleys while their fans ride the bus. MC Hammer made Rap mainstream and acceptable. And it's this acceptability that has provided grand profit for all those involved--whether it be rappers or those behind the scene. You can preach about selling out, but the fact remains, if it weren't for making mainstream music, there would be no wealth attached.

Hammer was criticized for making rap accessible. He was criticized for making Pop Rap. He was criticized for doing commercials. He was criticized for dancing. He was criticized for keeping his music clean from vulgarity and misogyny. He was criticized for actually wanting to make a good living doing what he was doing. He was criticized for wanting to make Rap fun. He was criticized for starting a clothing line. He was critcized for acting. And he was criticized for not making white people fear him. Now, every single rapper has done at least some of these things, and nobody is saying anything.

But I guess the thing that angers me most is the continuous picking by people who think rappers should adhere to stupid rules about what it means to have street cred. No other genre of music is subjected to so much illogical and lame brained "unwritten rules" about how to behave in order to be accepted.

Rappers should be thanking MC Hammer, not criticizing him. He made Rap fun and enjoyable; and he is one of the only rappers I have genuine respect for. Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Em provided some great rap music. Period!

It makes me sick to think that these so called hiphop purist dissed Hammer for going commercial in the early 90's. Everybody dissed Hammer from 3rd Bass to Tribe Called Quest to Ice Cube. Yeah, Mr. "Are We There Yet" Ice Cube. Hammer was not the best lyricist but he was and still is one of the best entertainers hiphop ever had. These dudes dissed and tore down Hammer then went even further commercial than he did, with less integrity. Every rapper that has commercials, cartoons, label deals, merchandise all got it from Hammer because he did it first. The guys that break ground first are always the one that pay the price for everything that comes after it.

I can't front. Hammer did sellout some on "Don't Hurt'em" but compared to rap artists of today, he still had respect for himself and his people. He really put his whole hood on the payroll and he never sold garbage and self destructive images to his people. Now that's gangsta!