Somewhere in August, the strangest thing reached me. It was a promo for a concert at the Staples Center in LA, USA. Nothing too weird really, but the artist headlining there was MC Hammer. The show was scheduled for earlier this month, but I have had no time to really look into this. I was just puzzled about it. Didn’t he quit music a long time ago? Isn’t he some big time motivational speaker and Internet entrepreneur now? Isn’t he simply called “Hammer”? And how can he be filling up a venue the size of the Staples Center? Huh?! I thought he must be planning a musical comeback.
The concert has taken place several weeks ago, and it’s pretty alarming that I can hardly find any reviews of it. Did it actually happen? Yes, it did. The only thing I could find out about it is that, apparently, the concert is part of a TV special about him and no, it does not mark the beginning of a musical return.
If you see the promotional picture of the event, you would think it’s a comeback. His greatest hits are mentioned, “2 Legit 2 Quit” and “U Can’t Touch This” and it includes his trademark classes and the mention of the ‘MC’ ahead of his name. Sounds like a comeback, right? But nope, it’s all marketing to remind you of his legacy.
The show also reminded you of his legacy. An MC Hammer show would be one great party with countless dancers and a choir onstage and that’s exactly what he did in this show too. It’s a great celebration of (almost) forgotten times.
I think Hammer is a great story of someone who redefined himself and his life after fame and even after bankruptcy, and has rebuilt it all on great entrepreneurship, a charismatic personality and great social empathy. He only did one interview about the concert with the LA Times in which he explained his vision on today’s hip hop scene and him wanted to help Florida residents after hurricane Irma hit the area.
It’s suggested that he may have quit the hip hop scene because of today’s drive to get high all the time. Even back in the 90s Hammer was an advocate against the use of drugs and even then promoted positivity. The same thing he’s still pushing now and it doesn’t look like it’s just a phrase for him. It looks like Hammer really lives by what he says.
I think he’s found his calling and his place and has used his fame, or faded fame (as some say), in such a good way to get himself on the track to find it.
