MC Hammer Was A Prime Example of What Not To Do

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MC Hammer is one of the most successful rappers ever. While his career was brief, he did leave a big impact with a massive song. He made tons of money and sold several million of albums...making him the first mainstream rapper. What exactly happened?   Hammer's Time 0:00 Intro 0:10 MC Hammer's History Lesson 2:00 Getting Signed 3:00 Blowing Up 4:30 Megastar 6:00 Big Spender 7:14 The Downfall 9:10 Going Broke 10:12 Legendary

Transcript

00:00he was the very first hip-hop artist to become mainstream he was a trendsetter sold millions

00:14of albums and he also made enormous amounts of money unfortunately the fame and success

00:21would be short-lived let's take a look back at the legendary mc hammer and find out what

00:28actually happened before hammer made it big he grew up idolizing singers like james brown and

00:36michael jackson the two legends influenced hammer in a positive way young hammer would even perform

00:43dance numbers outside of public events to make some extra cash for his family as he got older

00:49and hip-hop started to grow more popular hammer saw an opportunity for himself in the growing genre

00:56thanks to the strong relationships he built in his hometown he was able to get two twenty thousand

01:03dollar loans from his friends hammer had an idea that would change his life forever

01:08hammer used the money to launch his own independent music label it was a modest venture with him

01:15wearing multiple hats early on his sound was something new and different hammer focused more

01:23making songs that people could dance to while lyrical ability would take a back seat he sold records

01:29out of his car trunk when starting out over time he would sell a lot of albums around local california

01:36neighborhoods and his small company would start to expand eventually after unrelenting street marketing

01:44the entrepreneur sold 60 000 units of his first independent album it wasn't long before big music

01:52labels came knocking with hopes to sign the emerging talent capital records approached hammer with a very

01:59lucrative joint venture deal including a 1.7 million dollar advance once the deal was inked the marketing

02:09machine would push hammer even further he got more radio play booked more tv appearances

02:15and his brand began to expand my next guest has one of the hottest rap records in the country today

02:23this album just went gold and here he is to perform his hit turn this mother out mr mcu hammer

02:32he would soon release a massive song that would turn him into a household name

02:36you can't touch this was a very catchy tune it used a sample of a rick james classic

02:45the song and video was played in heavy rotation everywhere the success was due to a unique outfit

02:51the great dance routine and the upbeat tempo hammer pants soon became his signature and morphed into a

02:58popular culture trend the album immediately rose to the top of the billboard chance

03:03and would stay there for 21 consecutive weeks and the winner is

03:12mc hammer i can't touch this mc hammer and the winner is

03:23mc hammer also released two other chart toppers to go along with the smash hit

03:29both new singles also using samples as well including a sample of prince's when doves cry

03:38the album went on to sell over 10 million copies in the u.s and 22 million worldwide

03:45it would be the first hip-hop album ever to go diamond hammer's fame had grown immensely thanks to his

03:52first single and his follow-ups so the basic hammer time move would be something like what oh it all starts with

04:09oh no with that with the massive success he was able to sell out arenas performing his hits

04:15hammer being a workhorse was simultaneously recording his next album in a studio he built on his tour bus

04:25now being the most popular rapper in the world many other opportunities presented themselves

04:32he was featured on the teenage mutant ninja turtle soundtrack as well as one for rocky five

04:37mtv would feature the megastar regularly hammer released his next album just one year later his new

04:47project was called too legit to quit

04:56hammer pulled out all the stops making multiple high-budget music videos

05:01some even featuring scenes with popular celebrities everyone wanted to be a part of the hammer phenomenon

05:09hammer even had a sunday morning cartoon being produced

05:23his new world tour was nothing short of spectacular

05:27very extravagant with tons of dancers several backup vocalist and highly stylized it was even sponsored

05:35by pepsi unfortunately while the album did sell for million copies it didn't come even close to his

05:43previous success due to the expenses that came along with promoting the album capital records actually lost

05:52money from the project from all of his business ventures hammer was still raking in plenty of cash monthly

06:01hammer earned a reported 33 million dollars from album sales as the money rolled in he would spend spend

06:08and spend some more his lifestyle would consist of almost 20 luxury cars a private jet

06:1621 racehors with an average price tag of 250 000 each hammer spent approximately 500 000 on his extremely large

06:28entourage which consisted of family members and dozens of his friends stanley even built a 30 million dollar

06:36mansion overlooking his hometown his home was quite lavish consisting of 12 acres of land 17 car garage

06:45two tennis courts two swimming pools a baseball field a full-size movie theater gold hammer statues

06:57and much more over the top things he hired his older brother to manage all of his funds ironically he

07:04wasn't equipped for the job as he had no experience in finances at all as time went on his popularity

07:13continued to decline while hip-hop was still growing the popularity shifted to more hardcore gangster rap

07:22rappers like ice cube snoop dog and the wu-tang clan would release music that now topped the charts

07:31as hammer's fame continued to dwindle it also didn't help that he was labeled a sellout by his peers

07:38what's your favorite rap song ice cube

07:45what about oh no i'm not going to ask you because you're going to say something about raw fusion

07:48okay what's your favorite rap jam it's yours that's all no one doesn't know that

07:57can't touch this by mciana

08:01okay and why do you like that one oh because it's raging and he's funky

08:05funky dance steps now okay no but there's parents out there listening to this that think he's

08:11serious why is the audience laughing i want to ask you why do so many people get on hammer i mean the

08:19man sold 10 million records i'm not getting on hammer and i'm not gonna say he did sell 10 million records

08:25but uh crack fiends boy 10 million rocks that don't mean crack is good

08:30i don't mean nothing selling records don't mean nothing like that the reason i mean i'm down with

08:35him because he's a brother and he's making his mail but however he's diluting rap you know what i'm

08:40saying he's making something he's playing that sambo role and the reason everybody's buying his

08:44record is because he's no threat and everybody want to see sambo dance

08:47hammer tried to adapt to the new hardcore wave with grittier music but his albums continued to hit

08:57all-time lows not only was his music career taking a hit so was his bank account as mentioned

09:05previously hammer had a spending problem and also mismanaged his money he was notorious for sampling

09:13other artists music frequently and would deal with lawsuits regarding music clearances

09:20plenty of money came in early on in his career but due to dwindling album sales unpaid loans a large

09:27payroll and a lavish lifestyle hammer found himself 13 million dollars in debt just five years after

09:36becoming larger than life he eventually was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1996

09:44forced to sell his home cars and other liabilities in order to remain afloat hammer did more tv commercials

09:53reality shows and other business ventures in the coming years

10:00life comes at you fast be ready with nationwide investments retirement insurance

10:07regardless of the mistakes he may have made

10:09hammer is still considered one of the best things to ever happen to the hip-hop genre

10:16he is also still widely respected for his entrepreneurial achievements in music and his

10:21involvement in the tech world what do you guys think about the hammer story were you a fan of his work

10:29would you have done anything different if you were in his pants leave a comment below and let me know

10:36what do you think about the

10:43what's the best things to ever happen to the hip-hop genre

10:44so

10:45you

10:46don't

10:48you

10:48don't

10:50you

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