On April 28, 1990, MC Hammer stutter-stepped to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with his third LP, Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em, thanks to the runaway success of its hit single “U Can’t Touch This.” The set ultimately spent 29 weeks in the coveted top spot.
Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em became the first hip-hop full-length to sell 10 million copies, according to the RIAA, as well as the first to be nominated for an album of the year Grammy Award.
With its sample of Rick James’ “Super Freak” and a deliriously choreographed music video featuring Hammer in harem pants, “U Can’t Touch This” also topped Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Born Stanley Burrell, the former Oakland Athletics bat boy was christened with his stage name (by the team’s clutch hitter Reggie Jackson) because of his resemblance to Hall of Famer “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron.
Hammer would go on to land 18 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, although his extravagant lifestyle during the early ’90s led to bankruptcy in 1996, which was memorably recounted in an episode of VH1’s Behind the Music. In 1997, Hammer told Oprah Winfrey of his financial failing: “There were no books … or map to follow [about] receiving $20 million or $30 million at one time.”
The father of five has since become a pastor and an entrepreneur in the tech and entertainment fields.
