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— CH. 1 · FROM BATBOY TO NAVY —

MC Hammer

~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
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  • Stanley Kirk Burrell grew up in a three-bedroom housing project apartment in East Oakland, California. He was born on the 30th of March 1962, into a family of eight siblings and his mother who worked as a secretary. His father managed a cardroom at Oaks Card Club while also working as a warehouse supervisor. The young Stanley would sell stray baseballs in the parking lot of the Oakland Coliseum during the early 1970s. Charlie Finley, the owner of the Oakland Athletics, saw an eleven-year-old performing splits and hired him as a batboy. This role lasted from 1973 until 1980 when he graduated from McClymonds High School. Teammates like Pedro García called him Little Hammer because he resembled Hank Aaron. Ron Bergman, a writer for the Oakland Tribune, described him as Pipeline due to his informant status within the clubhouse. After failing to make the San Francisco Giants tryout, he joined the United States Navy in 1980. He served three years with Patrol Squadron Four Seven at NAS Moffett Field in Mountain View, California. He held the rank of petty officer third class aviation storekeeper before receiving an honorable discharge.

  • Stanley Burrell borrowed twenty thousand dollars each from former A's players Mike Davis and Dwayne Murphy to start Bust It Productions. He sold records out of his car trunk and basement while running his independent label. His debut album Feel My Power arrived in 1986 and sold over sixty thousand copies through City Hall Records distribution. Tony Valera, a DJ on 107.7 KSOL Radio, played Let's Get It Started during spring 1988 mix-shows. The track gained popularity in nightclubs across the Bay Area. An impressed record executive signed him to Capitol Records after seeing him perform in an Oakland club. The contract included a one million seven hundred fifty thousand dollar advance. His second album Let's Get It Started sold over two million copies by 1989. Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em released on the 12th of February 1990, became the first hip-hop album to achieve diamond certification. It sold more than eighteen million units worldwide. The single U Can't Touch This peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album stayed at number one for twenty-one weeks primarily due to that hit song. Pray reached number two in the US and number eight in the UK. PepsiCo International sponsored a tour with Christopher A. Sinclair joining Hammer throughout 1991.

  • Hammer adopted styles from James Brown and Nicholas Brothers including splits and feverishly choreographed routines. He created dances like the Hammer dance or typewriter dance alongside the bump from U Can't Touch This. His showmanship involved fifteen dancers, twelve backup singers, seven live musicians and two disc jockeys. MTV gave heavy airplay to his videos because they featured a predominantly white viewership that had aired little rap music before. Jennifer Lopez auditioned as a dancer for him during a 1990 visit to Yo! MTV Raps. At the height of his career, Hammer insured his legs for millions of dollars according to an interview by Maria Shriver in 1990. He later suffered a knee injury that halted his dancing career temporarily. BET ranked him as the seventh best dancer of all time. His trademark Hammer pants became a defining visual element of his performances. The video for 2 Legit 2 Quit featured many celebrity appearances and is considered one of the most expensive videos ever made. Michael Jackson appeared in the final scene of that video wearing a silver-white sequined glove doing the hand gesture. Hammer called Jackson to ensure he was not offended by the ending before sharing the story on The Wendy Williams Show.

  • Hammer amassed approximately thirty-three million dollars following the success of Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em. Excessive spending on staff and personal luxuries led to over thirteen million dollars in debt by 1996. Dwindling album sales and unpaid loans contributed to the financial crisis alongside a large payroll. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oakland, California on the 1st of April 1996. The case converted to Chapter 7 on the 23rd of September 1998. He sold his Fremont estate for five point three million dollars after filing. Felton Pilate and Rick James sued him for copyright infringement regarding U Can't Touch This but settled out of court. Kevin Christian filed a sixteen million dollar lawsuit against him for copyright infringement of Oh-Oh You Got The Shing. Capitol Records settled with Christian in 1994 while terms remained sealed. The government filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in November 2011 for back taxes from 1996 and 1997. Hammer owed seven hundred seventy-nine thousand five hundred eighty-five dollars in back taxes. A Ninth Circuit appeal rejected his argument about tax collection in December 2015.

  • Hammer became an ordained preacher during the late 1990s and hosted MC Hammer and Friends on Trinity Broadcasting Network. He released Family Affair in 1998 as his first album under a new deal with EMI. The record featured artists like Geeman, Teabag, and Common Unity making their recording debuts. It sold about one thousand copies worldwide despite heavy promotion. Active Duty arrived in 2001 to pay homage to those lost in the September 11 attacks. Full Blast released in early 2004 marked his ninth studio album after leaving Capitol Records and EMI. He co-founded DanceJam.com in 2007 with Geoffrey Arone as chief strategy officer. The community site valued at four point five million dollars showcased dance video competitions. Alchemist Management started in July 2010 to manage fighters including Nate Marquardt and Tim F. Kennedy. He announced WireDoo in October 2011 as a deep search engine competing with Google and Bing. The project never left beta mode before closing down.

  • Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em: The Movie earned him a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video at the 33rd Annual Awards. He hosted and voiced a Saturday-morning cartoon called Hammerman in 1991. His appearances included Saturday Night Live as host and musical guest alongside Amen and Martin. A cameo appeared in the 1993 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero. He produced Better Luck Tomorrow for filmmaker Justin Lin in 2002 after wiring money needed from his own funds. VH1 aired Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story on the 19th of December 2001 starring Romany Malco and Tangi Miller. Hammertime aired on A&E during the summer of 2009 focusing on his personal business and family life. He performed I Got Gigs in an August 2008 ESPN commercial for Monday Night Football. Cash4Gold featured him with Ed McMahon in a Super Bowl XLIII commercial on the 1st of February 2009. He served as spokesman for 3M Command Strips and Starburst in recent years. His music appears in films like Hot Shots! Doogie Howser M.D. Kung Pow Enter The Fist Charlie's Angels Full Throttle Tropic Thunder and Dancing with the Stars.

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Common questions

When was Stanley Kirk Burrell born and where did he grow up?

Stanley Kirk Burrell was born on the 30th of March 1962 in a three-bedroom housing project apartment in East Oakland, California. He grew up with eight siblings and his mother who worked as a secretary.

What role did MC Hammer hold in the United States Navy before becoming famous?

MC Hammer served three years with Patrol Squadron Four Seven at NAS Moffett Field in Mountain View, California after joining in 1980. He held the rank of petty officer third class aviation storekeeper before receiving an honorable discharge.

How much money did MC Hammer owe in back taxes when the government filed a lawsuit against him?

The government filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in November 2011 for back taxes from 1996 and 1997 because MC Hammer owed seven hundred seventy-nine thousand five hundred eighty-five dollars in back taxes. A Ninth Circuit appeal rejected his argument about tax collection in December 2015.

Which album became the first hip-hop album to achieve diamond certification and when was it released?

Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em released on the 12th of February 1990 became the first hip-hop album to achieve diamond certification. It sold more than eighteen million units worldwide and stayed at number one for twenty-one weeks primarily due to that hit song.

When did MC Hammer file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and what happened to his Fremont estate?

MC Hammer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oakland, California on the 1st of April 1996. He sold his Fremont estate for five point three million dollars after filing while the case converted to Chapter 7 on the 23rd of September 1998.

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