Rocktrospectiva: One Of The Best-Selling Hip Hop Albums "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" Turns 35

Released on 12 February 1990, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" was the third studio album by US rapper MC Hammer, produced, recorded and mixed by Felton Pilate and James Earley, the album was made on a small budget of around $10,000 and recorded on a modified tour bus between May 1988 and November 1989. The album spawned six singles "Help The Children", "Dancin' Machine", "U Can't Touch This", "Have You Seen Her", "Pray" & "Here Comes The Hammer", the smash hit "U Can't Touch This" which reached the top 10 at the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number one in Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden, and number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Following the album's success, Hammer embarked on the Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em World Tour, which stretched from 1990 to 1991 with 144 dates, grossing over $32 million.

 

MC Hammer's previous album, Let's Get It Started, had sold over 1.5 million units in the United States by the end of 1989, but he was not satisfied with the platinum success, instead, he chose to deviate from the standard rap format in his next album. Even though some purists criticized him for being more of a dancer than a rapper.

 

While on tour in the summer of 1988, Hammer started to record his third studio album on a modified tour bus. After spending part of his advance from Capitol Records on $50,000 worth of equipment for the back of the tour bus, he used his free time on the road to record his next album. Capitol marketed the album by sending free cassette singles and a personalized letter to 100,000 children, most of whom were Black or Hispanic. The letter, signed by Hammer, asked young people to phone MTV and request his video.

 

The album was supported by the single "U Can't Touch This"; follow-up singles included "Have You Seen Her" (a cover of the Chi-Lites) and "Pray" (a beat sampled from Prince's "When Doves Cry" and Faith No More's "We Care a Lot"). Most of these singles were notable for sampling other high-profile artists: "Dancin' Machine" sampled The Jackson 5, "Help the Children" (also the name of an outreach foundation Hammer started) interpolates Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "She's Soft and Wet" sampled Prince's "Soft and Wet".

 

"Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" received mixed reviews from critics, yet received five nominations at the 1991 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, becoming the first hip hop record to be nominated in this category, as well as winning five awards at the 1991 American Music Awards. The album is considered MC Hammer's mainstream breakthrough and a commercial juggernaut. It peaked at number one for twenty-one weeks on the US Billboard 200, becoming the first rap recording from a solo artist to top the pop chart, and was the best-selling album of 1990. 

 

It was also the first hip hop album to be certified diamond in the US, was certified platinum in several countries, and was one of the best-selling hip hop albums worldwide. Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em was also criticized for its sampling of songs by other musicians and also dissed in music videos of artists such as The D.O.C., Ice Cube, Digital Underground,LL Cool J, Hammer. However, LL Cool J would later compliment and commend Hammer's talents on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop, which aired in 2008.

 

Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em Track List:  

 

1. Here Comes The Hammer

2. U Can't Touch This

3. Have You Seen Her 

4. Yo!! Sweetness

5. Help The Children

6. On Your Face

7. Dancin' Machine

8. Pray 

9. Crime Story

10. She's Soft And Wet

11. Black Is Black

12. Let's Go Deeper

13. Work This