M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice. They were like the Kanye West and Eminem of their day. You may scoff at that statement, but in many ways it's true. As 1990 began, no rap single had ever topped the Billboard Hot 100, and only a handful had been top 10 hits. M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice changed that in 1990, the tipping point between rap being a novelty offshoot of R&B to full-fledged genre of mainstream pop.
Like West and Eminem, who garnered significant acclaim and success going against the traditional stylings of hip-hop, M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice were also pioneers of a sort, packaging their rap to be more upbeat and accessible to a mainstream audience than the works of then prominent rap acts like NWA, 2 Live Crew and Public Enemy. While those groups spun tales of urban decay with explicit lyrics and hard beats, M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice were more interested in the meaningless pursuit of the dance floor, girls, etc., told over pop rhythms with familiar samples (Rick James, David Bowie, etc.).
And the hits rolled in. M.C. Hammer's "U Cant Touch This" became the first rap to top the top 40 airplay chart and propelled its album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em to #1 where it stayed for 21 weeks. It gave way to Vanilla Ice's To the Extreme, which also had a long run at #1 (16 weeks) and produced the first rap single to top the Hot 100, "Ice Ice Baby."
Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em kicks off with "Here Comes the Hammer" and "U Can't Touch This," party anthems that have little to say than "I'm here, let's dance." Then comes "Have You Seen Her," which, as a rap "ballad," is a bit of an anomaly, but it works well. "Help the Children" was another slower track, a tepid attempt at infusing a bit of social consciousness into the mix. Other highlights include the bubbly "On Your Face" and Prince-sampling dance track "Pray," which hit #2 the week after "Ice Ice Baby" was #1. Production-wise, these songs have more in common with pop acts like New Kids on the Block than with hip-hop. Although there are quite a few fun songs here, ultimately the non-singles lack much distinction.
To the Extreme kicks off with Vanilla Ice's massive #1 hit, "Ice Ice Baby," which is pretty much the same song thematically as "Here Comes the Hammer," as all it says is "here I am, I'm me, let's party." While upbeat, Vanilla Ice's album is less dance-pop-oriented than Hammer's, with a focus on melodies pinned to prominent bass lines. "Ice Ice Baby's" groove, taken from David Bowie's "Under Pressure," is particularly infectious. Musically though, apart from that major hit and its top 5 following, "Play that Funky Music," there's little here that provides any enduring appeal, although I do enjoy the disposable party vibe of "Ice Is Workin' It." I was really excited to get this for Christmas in 1990, but since I recognize very few of these tracks now, I guess I didn't listen to it much, and now I can see why.
Unlike Eminem and West, Hammer and Ice proved to have little staying power. Hammer's next album, Too Legit to Quit, yielded two top 10 hits, but sold far fewer copies. Vanilla Ice would never come close to repeating the success of his debut. Time hasn't been kind to them either. Even though Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year, I doubt few would argue its artistry parallels that of say Late Registration or The Marshall Mathers LP (and no one would dare make the case for Vanilla Ice).
M.C. Hammer - Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em (3/5). Best: U Can't Touch This, Have You Seen Her, Pray, Here Comes the Hammer, On Your Face
Vanilla Ice - To the Extreme (2.5/5). Best: Ice Ice Baby, Play that Funky Music, Ice Is Workin' It
4 comments:
I must have mentally blanked out the fact that Hammer was nominated for Album of the Year...craziness. I get where you are going with the comparison, although I think it would be 50 Cent that would play the part of Hammer. In Kanye's case, he's crossed over in spite of being an innovator. Hammer's only innovation was in finding a way to become a wide-ranging entertainer, and not just a rapper. Sadly, his music wasn't as innovative as his business practice.
I forgot about 50 Cent, who is important too. Kanye's had more endurance though. 50's latest project appears to be tanking without a major hit, while Kanye's always good for a hit or two (or more) from every album. Listening to MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice the other weekend, I was definitely underwhelmed.
Haha, oh those were the days. Isn't it weird that U Can't Touch This "only" made number 8 on the Billboard 100... It seems like it should have been much higher than that. I quite liked a couple of songs after that (from Hammer's 2 Legit album) but clearly not that much because I forget the titles!!
I've read that the surprisingly low peak of "U Can't Touch This" was due to a lack of availability at retail (the Wikipedia article says it was only available as a 12-inch single, which would have made it more expensive and probably less common). Had it been released as a regular single, It most certainly would have been a #1 hit. It was all over radio--it was #1 at top 40 radio and one of the 10 biggest hits of the year. MTV played the video constantly (Interesting trivia: The MTV clip had an error in it, where the video momentarily speeds up during the line "why you standing there man." This was shown many many times. I wonder why no one from the record company rushed over a fresh copy). I had Too Legit to Quit too, and I liked the title track and the Addams Family song.
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