Too Legit to Quit

Track Listings
1. This Is the Way We Roll
2. Brothers Hang On
3. Too Legit to Quit
4. Living in a World Like This
5. Tell Me (Why Can't We Live Together)
6. Releasing Some Pressure
7. Find Yourself a Friend
8. Count It Off
9. Good to Go
10. Lovehold
11. Street Soldiers
12. Do Not Pass Me By
13. Gaining Momentum

Too Legit to Quit,MC Hammer,Capitol,Dance Music,Hip-Hop,Pop,Pop-Rap,Rap & Hip-Hop,Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues

Too Legit to Quit

Too Legit to Quit
Too Legit to Quit
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • The Album That Earned Hammer The Sellout Tag {2 Stars}
  • hip hop hammer horror
  • Stanley Kirk Burrell's second megahit!
  • Why Didn't He Put Addam's Groove On It?
  • You're not legit enough when you don't buy this CD!
Too Legit to Quit
MC Hammer
Manufacturer: EMI Special Products
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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GeneralGeneral | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
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CDs $7 - $10CDs $7 - $10 | Rap & Hip-Hop General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
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Similar Items:
  1. Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
  2. Let's Get It Started
  3. The Funky Headhunter
  4. Active Duty
  5. Inside Out

ASIN: B000006341
Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

  1. This Is The Way We Roll
  2. Brothers Hang On
  3. Too Legit Too Quit
  4. Living In A World Like This
  5. Tell Me (Why Can't We Live Together)
  6. Releasing Some Pressure
  7. Find Yourself A Friend
  8. Count It Off
  9. Good To Go
  10. Lovehold
  11. Street Soldiers
  12. Do Not Pass Me By
  13. Gaining Momentum

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars The Album That Earned Hammer The Sellout Tag {2 Stars}.......2007-01-26

I just wanted to start by making one point. If you defend this album by saying that it was a hit record or it has hit singles on it, you're actually doing it a disservice. Hit singles do not a good album make. Vanilla Ice had hits....his albums, for the most part, are terrible. So lets get past the number of hits and start looking for the quality, people.

MC Hammer is a special case. When I heard Hammer for the first time, I loved him (I was 11 or 12 at the time). He was fun, energetic, his voice was unique, and he could dance his butt off. But as I grew older and began to gain a better appreciation for good rap music, I began to look at Hammer as the symbol for all that was wrong with rap music. The flames were fanned by groups like 3rd Bass and A Tribe Called Quest (highly respected names in the rap world) that were openly bashing him nonstop. I was 14 years old when this album dropped and I was very impressionable when it came to the words of my favorite rappers. So if Q Tip or MC Serch said Hammer was wack, then I fell right in line with what they said with no questions asked.....and so did a whole lot of other people. Hammer didn't help matters any with his soft drink commercials, cartoons, by dropping MC from his moniker, or his sneaker ads. The mans face was everywhere. But unlike Vanilla Ice, the Prince to his Michael Jackson, Hammer had redeeming qualities. He didn't come off as goofy as Ice and he was spreading a positive message. Over the years, I've come to like Hammer again, but this particular album just comes off way too cartoonish. It was almost as if he put all of his energy into everything but this album. There are a few tracks that are good for dancing to (Gaining Momentum, Too Legit To Quit, and This Is The Way We Roll), but they weren't enough to salvage things.

As far as flaws go, well, this is pretty much a pop album. At one point, MC Hammer himself said that he wasn't hip hop and that he would only refer to himself as an entertainer. As you can imagine, that rubbed a lot of the hip hop masses the wrong way. You can hear the effects of his train of thought all throughout the album. Corny beats? Check. Weak lyrics? Check. Radio friendly singles? Check. Lame, sing songy hooks? Check. Hammer should've spent more time penning lyrics instead of running around with Deion Sanders. Also, I couldn't stand him rolling his tongue in the middle of his words -- another change that came with this album. Highly, highly annoying.

Too Legit To Quit is pretty much a dance album. By hip hop standards, this album is a pretty much the definiton of what selling out is. Really, I have more respect for Hammer now than I did when this came out in '91. But this isn't his best effort at all. Really, this joint sounds more like an r&b album (which was TOTALLY unacceptable in the hardcore climate of hip hop back in '91. Despite two or three listenable tracks, I'd have to recommend passing on this album and picking up the singles if they're still out there to be had.

Standout Tracks: Gaining Momentum and Too Legit To Quit

3 out of 5 stars hip hop hammer horror.......2005-09-13

I bought this TLTQ back in '91 when i still liked music (?!). After (mc)hammer's smash hit album 'Please hammer don't hurt them', he came up with this ambitious bulldozer with epic and yes even dramatic dimensions, complete with the hammering (héhé), migraine-provoking chants that rather belong in a football stadium than on a record. Compared to the club-like,relatively intimate setting of PHDHT with accordingly simple means, here, ample resources have been addressed with accordingly the feel of a vast, inhospitable realm not suitable i guess for the agoraphobic, the great outdoors, you know. Is it as funny or carefree as PHDHT? Funny? I doubt it. Carefree? Believe it or not but the rhythm in TLTQ is not very spontaneous, it has a rather oldfashioned (almost classical!) feel to it. And also the assemblage of tracks is somewhat deliberate and calculated (yeah Put her in the mix!). Despite the social and humanitarian awareness that seems to be on the forefront, the whole concept feels rather cold (like metal - no not the genre - like metal of a hammer - no not the artist.. uhm..). Grand symphony of rap? Well, anyway it's an impressive and admirable accomplishment that here and there might give you goosebumps and that's what it's all about, right?
Most entertaining or characteristic tracks (to me,that is) 1, 6, 8, 12,13

5 out of 5 stars Stanley Kirk Burrell's second megahit!.......2004-02-18

TOO LEGIT TO QUIT,released in October 1991,was the second meaghit for this artist,now simply known as Hammer. The success of PLEASE HAMMER DON'T HURT 'EM,released only 20 months earlier,prompted Hammer to record this album immediately. Aside from the title track,hits include the religiously themed DO NOT PASS ME BY and THIS IS THE WAY WE ROLL. Shortly after this album was released,Hammer guest-hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live and was a musical guest as well. In that episode,he performed THIS IS THE WAY WE ROLL and the title track. Also,there's ADDAMS GROOVE,on the cassette format of this album. That track is from the movie "The Addams Family",based on the 1960's sitcom. All the aforementioned tracks would later appear on the GREATEST HITS compilation,released in 1996. This is Hammer's third album ever,and on the Capitol label(he would be dropped after this album).

5 out of 5 stars Why Didn't He Put Addam's Groove On It?.......2000-07-11

if hammer had put addam's groove on this album it would have been better than please hammer don't hurt 'em. this album sported 2 top 10 singles, this is the way we roll and 2 legit 2 quit, and could've sported a 3rd, addam's groove, which helped promote the addam's family movie instead, and peaked at no. 8 on the singles charts.

5 out of 5 stars You're not legit enough when you don't buy this CD!.......2000-06-22

Hammer's "Too Legit To Quit" LP is a must buy! It was way back in 1991 when I bought the album! It rocks, man! It's an outstanding rap album better than gangsta rap
Too Legit to Quit
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Once again, I can't knock a man for doing his best
  • The Album That Earned Hammer The Sellout Tag {2 Stars}
  • Painfully unlistenable
  • "PLEASE ,PLEASE HAMMER DON'T HURT EM""YEAH RIGHT HURT'EM ALL
  • WARNING !!! WARNING !!! WARNING !!! WARNING !!!
Too Legit to Quit
MC Hammer
Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | R&B | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Pop RapPop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
CDs $7 - $10CDs $7 - $10 | Rap & Hip-Hop General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
All Bargain TitlesAll Bargain Titles | Rap & Hip-Hop General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
  2. The Funky Headhunter
  3. Let's Get It Started
  4. Big Willie Style
  5. To the Extreme

ASIN: B000002V00
Release Date: 1991-10-29

Tracks:

  1. This Is the Way We Roll
  2. Brothers Hang On
  3. Too Legit to Quit
  4. Living in a World Like This
  5. Tell Me (Why Can't We Live Together)
  6. Releasing Some Pressure
  7. Find Yourself a Friend
  8. Count It Off
  9. Good to Go
  10. Lovehold
  11. Street Soldiers
  12. Do Not Pass Me By
  13. Gaining Momentum

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Once again, I can't knock a man for doing his best.......2007-07-17

Quite simply put, this is M.C Hammers best album, with a close second being his first album Too Legit to Quit. His second album, the one which blew up so big, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em", is actually the album I personally now find TOTALLY unlistenable and corny...this album is where M.C Hammer made another stab at really being a serious artist...while "Let's Get It Started" is really legitamate party rap ( no less so than Moe Dee, much of Kane's music at the time, LL, Run, Kid n Play ), this is the album Hammer made after concieving himself as a "major" artist. In that way it reminds me of what Diddy did last year with "Press Play"...it also reminds me of other hip hop albums like "Apocalypse 91", "Predator", "Wu Tang Forever" in which an artist makes a strong work that's pretty much disregarded by the hip hop community because of the perception of their past work and the attitude that they've "crossed over."

The cold and sad fact about the crabs in a basket mentality pervading hip hop journalism and critique is that any arist who's brilliant and at some time "disses" another artist for becoming commercial, must at some date in his career face that same fate. Ice Cube, who dissed Hammer in "Be True to the Game", was seen as going commercial when he did "We Be Clubbin"...the Wu Tang Clan who dissed several M.C's in an interlude on their Triumph album, find themselves with a dwindling black audience. No matter how gangsta or thug you may be, you're not exempt from the rule of "what goes up must come down", and M.C's become victims of the very same yard sticks of authenticity they promote in their youth...hip hop still hasn't learned to grow up...this is GROWN FOLKS BIZ YA"LL.

At the end of 1991 though, your boy wasn't thinking about that...all I was thinking was that 2 Legit 2 Quit was an album on the scale of which I had never heard from a rapper before.

Hammer leans heavily on live instrumentation on this album. I believe this is the last album in his partnership with Felton Pilate, who was a lead singer and multi instrumentalist with Con Funk Shun. Around this time Hammer actually began to use a multi peice live band in live shows and TV appearances. Actually Hammer innovated a thing that has become more popular in hip hop as of late, and that mainly comes from the Bay Area, which is creating origional tracks for your raps, which is how Steve Stoute and Pharrell operate. Also he was the first rapper I was personally exposed to with a band ( too young for Stetsasnic). The sound on many songs on the album is definetley late 80s/ early 90s R&B/Hip Hop...many drum beats swing like Teddy Riley's New Jack Swing sound, it's full of the Digital Roland and Yamaha Keyboards of the era. The traditional Hammer percussion is also in full effect. Overall it's more varied in tempo and mood than his other albums, less frantic, and the arrangements develop more.

The album is also embelleshed heavily with back ground vocals from the huge stable of singers Hammer had. From a more mature and holistic understanding of black music, you can hear Hammer trying to present a total musical picture, like Earth, Wind & Fire (whose horn section appears on the album), P-Funk, or a Quincy Jones album. Singing, rapping, ballads, social songs (which are in abundance), love...understanding that concept alone puts Hammer ahead of most artist of the last 20 years for me.

The album opener, "This is the Way We Roll" is a very funky cut with alot of nice guitar work from Felton Pilate, very innovative to hear rap at that time with funky guitar. "Brothers Hang On" interpolates the Temptations "Masterpiece" to great effect.

Lyrically Hammer actually improved here. Any one who tells you differently is obiviously a hater or never listened to the man closely. He totally abandons his shouting Run inspired rap style here, and it allows him to say more. His raps take 8 bars and up to deliver here, whereas his rhyme structures tended to be very short. The main theme of the song is community. The majority of the album consists of message songs, even "2 Legit 2 Quit" was a message song in the best black tradition of double entendre. He covers more lyrical ground than he had previously, rapping about being forced to hustle ("Living in a world like this), peace( "Why Can't we live together), enjoying working a job ("Good to Go"), God ("Do Not Pass Me By"), and he has a long spoken word piece called "Street Soldiers" which actually inspired and was the theme song for a very socially relevant talk radio program here in the Bay Area.

Hammers lyrical attitude in discussing social issues is very earnest and comes out of the civil rights movement. It lacks the ambivalence and agression of American culture since then. You know, unlike most rappers, Hammer will come out and say drug dealing is wrong. He also uses a moralistic tactic that M.C's like Ice T used to use, in that whenever he plays a crimminal character in his songs, that character always dies or meets defeat. May seem heavy handed, but it's sorely missed today, who in black music will stand up for the people!!

Overall it's Hammers best lyrical performance and the music is very good and origional with traces of Funk, Hip Hop, House, New Jack Swing and then contemporary R&B ( the Babyface school). The sounds used during that area and the drum programming grate on me a little, especially the keyboard sounds from that era, but the mix of live instruments, keyboards, samples and scratches was an innovative one for that time and should be studied now!

This album probably confused his mainstream fans and further aggravated his purist hip hop detractors. A story that many of his detractors would repeat themselves!!!!! But, that's what you get for standing up for what you believe in...and Hammer does that well here

2 out of 5 stars The Album That Earned Hammer The Sellout Tag {2 Stars}.......2007-01-26

I just wanted to start by making one point. If you defend this album by saying that it was a hit record or it has hit singles on it, you're actually doing it a disservice. Hit singles do not a good album make. Vanilla Ice had hits....his albums, for the most part, are terrible. So lets get past the number of hits and start looking for the quality, people.

MC Hammer is a special case. When I heard Hammer for the first time, I loved him (I was 11 or 12 at the time). He was fun, energetic, his voice was unique, and he could dance his butt off. But as I grew older and began to gain a better appreciation for good rap music, I began to look at Hammer as the symbol for all that was wrong with rap music. The flames were fanned by groups like 3rd Bass and A Tribe Called Quest (highly respected names in the rap world) that were openly bashing him nonstop. I was 14 years old when this album dropped and I was very impressionable when it came to the words of my favorite rappers. So if Q Tip or MC Serch said Hammer was wack, then I fell right in line with what they said with no questions asked.....and so did a whole lot of other people. Hammer didn't help matters any with his soft drink commercials, cartoons, by dropping MC from his moniker, or his sneaker ads. The mans face was everywhere. But unlike Vanilla Ice, the Prince to his Michael Jackson, Hammer had redeeming qualities. He didn't come off as goofy as Ice and he was spreading a positive message. Over the years, I've come to like Hammer again, but this particualr album just comes off way too cartoonish. It was almost as if he put all of his energy into everything but this album. There are a few tracks that are good for dancing to (Gaining Momentum, Too Legit To Quit, and This Is The Way We Roll), but they weren't enough to salvage things.

As far as flaws go, well, this is pretty much a pop album. At one point, MC Hammer himself said that he wasn't hip hop and that he would only refer to himself as an entertainer. As you can imagine, that rubbed a lot of the hip hop masses the wrong way. You can hear the effects of his train of thought all throughout the album. Corny beats? Check. Weak lyrics? Check. Radio friendly singles? Check. Lame, sing songy hooks? Check. Hammer should've spent more time penning lyrics instead of running around with Deion Sanders. Also, I couldn't stand him rolling his tongue in the middle of his words -- another change that came with this album. Highly, highly annoying.

Too Legit To Quit is pretty much a dance album. By hip hop standards, this album is a pretty much the definiton of what selling out is. Really, I have more respect for Hammer now than I did when this came out in '91. But this isn't his best effort at all. Really, this joint sounds more like an r&b album (which was TOTALLY unacceptable in the hardcore climate of hip hop back in '91. Despite two or three listenable tracks, I'd have to recommend passing on this album and picking up the singles if they're still out there to be had.

Standout Tracks: Gaining Momentum and Too Legit To Quit

1 out of 5 stars Painfully unlistenable.......2004-08-07

Man i found thiz album at a flea market and i thot i'd listen to it so my mom bought it for me and it sucked!!! The songs are so f***ing long it makes me sick and they seriously lack material. I don't know why everyone thinks this guy is so cool cuz he talks about the same s*** over and over and the choruses are waaaaaaay overplayed. DO NOT BUY THIS!! It wasn't even worth the 3 bucks i payed for it.

5 out of 5 stars "PLEASE ,PLEASE HAMMER DON'T HURT EM""YEAH RIGHT HURT'EM ALL.......1999-07-07

TO ALL THE HATERS OUT THERE. BACK UP AND LET THE BEST ENTERTAINER SINCE "MYSELF". TAKE HIS PLACE AT THE TOP OF THE HIP HOP WORLD'LET'S FACE IT THE BOY IS BBAADD. AND JUST LIKE HE BEEN AT THE TOP BEFORE HE WILL BE AT THE TOP AGAIN.SO LOOK OUT HE'S ABOUT TO STIR IT UP AGAIN HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. PEACE.

5 out of 5 stars WARNING !!! WARNING !!! WARNING !!! WARNING !!!.......1999-03-25

News... A bomb is in the place ....stop. This the most dangerous bomb of the century..stop. This Bomb is a bomb "H", "H" like "Hammer"...stop. You most be carefully ...stop. If you buy it you most know that you will dance during one century...stop. STOP ... HAMMER TIME !!!!!!! (lolo !!yep yep !!)
Too Legit to Quit
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Once again, I can't knock a man for doing his best
  • The Album That Earned Hammer The Sellout Tag {2 Stars}
  • Painfully unlistenable
  • "PLEASE ,PLEASE HAMMER DON'T HURT EM""YEAH RIGHT HURT'EM ALL
  • WARNING !!! WARNING !!! WARNING !!! WARNING !!!
Too Legit to Quit
MC Hammer
Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | R&B | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Pop RapPop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
  2. The Funky Headhunter
  3. Let's Get It Started
  4. Big Willie Style
  5. To the Extreme

ASIN: B000008GCL
Release Date: 1991-11-12

Tracks:

  1. This Is the Way We Roll
  2. Brothers Hang On
  3. Too Legit to Quit
  4. Living in a World Like This
  5. Tell Me (Why Can't We Live Together)
  6. Releasing Some Pressure
  7. Find Yourself a Friend
  8. Count It Off
  9. Good to Go
  10. Lovehold
  11. Street Soldiers
  12. Do Not Pass Me By
  13. Gaining Momentum

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Once again, I can't knock a man for doing his best.......2007-07-17

Quite simply put, this is M.C Hammers best album, with a close second being his first album Too Legit to Quit. His second album, the one which blew up so big, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt Em", is actually the album I personally now find TOTALLY unlistenable and corny...this album is where M.C Hammer made another stab at really being a serious artist...while "Let's Get It Started" is really legitamate party rap ( no less so than Moe Dee, much of Kane's music at the time, LL, Run, Kid n Play ), this is the album Hammer made after concieving himself as a "major" artist. In that way it reminds me of what Diddy did last year with "Press Play"...it also reminds me of other hip hop albums like "Apocalypse 91", "Predator", "Wu Tang Forever" in which an artist makes a strong work that's pretty much disregarded by the hip hop community because of the perception of their past work and the attitude that they've "crossed over."

The cold and sad fact about the crabs in a basket mentality pervading hip hop journalism and critique is that any arist who's brilliant and at some time "disses" another artist for becoming commercial, must at some date in his career face that same fate. Ice Cube, who dissed Hammer in "Be True to the Game", was seen as going commercial when he did "We Be Clubbin"...the Wu Tang Clan who dissed several M.C's in an interlude on their Triumph album, find themselves with a dwindling black audience. No matter how gangsta or thug you may be, you're not exempt from the rule of "what goes up must come down", and M.C's become victims of the very same yard sticks of authenticity they promote in their youth...hip hop still hasn't learned to grow up...this is GROWN FOLKS BIZ YA"LL.

At the end of 1991 though, your boy wasn't thinking about that...all I was thinking was that 2 Legit 2 Quit was an album on the scale of which I had never heard from a rapper before.

Hammer leans heavily on live instrumentation on this album. I believe this is the last album in his partnership with Felton Pilate, who was a lead singer and multi instrumentalist with Con Funk Shun. Around this time Hammer actually began to use a multi peice live band in live shows and TV appearances. Actually Hammer innovated a thing that has become more popular in hip hop as of late, and that mainly comes from the Bay Area, which is creating origional tracks for your raps, which is how Steve Stoute and Pharrell operate. Also he was the first rapper I was personally exposed to with a band ( too young for Stetsasnic). The sound on many songs on the album is definetley late 80s/ early 90s R&B/Hip Hop...many drum beats swing like Teddy Riley's New Jack Swing sound, it's full of the Digital Roland and Yamaha Keyboards of the era. The traditional Hammer percussion is also in full effect. Overall it's more varied in tempo and mood than his other albums, less frantic, and the arrangements develop more.

The album is also embelleshed heavily with back ground vocals from the huge stable of singers Hammer had. From a more mature and holistic understanding of black music, you can hear Hammer trying to present a total musical picture, like Earth, Wind & Fire (whose horn section appears on the album), P-Funk, or a Quincy Jones album. Singing, rapping, ballads, social songs (which are in abundance), love...understanding that concept alone puts Hammer ahead of most artist of the last 20 years for me.

The album opener, "This is the Way We Roll" is a very funky cut with alot of nice guitar work from Felton Pilate, very innovative to hear rap at that time with funky guitar. "Brothers Hang On" interpolates the Temptations "Masterpiece" to great effect.

Lyrically Hammer actually improved here. Any one who tells you differently is obiviously a hater or never listened to the man closely. He totally abandons his shouting Run inspired rap style here, and it allows him to say more. His raps take 8 bars and up to deliver here, whereas his rhyme structures tended to be very short. The main theme of the song is community. The majority of the album consists of message songs, even "2 Legit 2 Quit" was a message song in the best black tradition of double entendre. He covers more lyrical ground than he had previously, rapping about being forced to hustle ("Living in a world like this), peace( "Why Can't we live together), enjoying working a job ("Good to Go"), God ("Do Not Pass Me By"), and he has a long spoken word piece called "Street Soldiers" which actually inspired and was the theme song for a very socially relevant talk radio program here in the Bay Area.

Hammers lyrical attitude in discussing social issues is very earnest and comes out of the civil rights movement. It lacks the ambivalence and agression of American culture since then. You know, unlike most rappers, Hammer will come out and say drug dealing is wrong. He also uses a moralistic tactic that M.C's like Ice T used to use, in that whenever he plays a crimminal character in his songs, that character always dies or meets defeat. May seem heavy handed, but it's sorely missed today, who in black music will stand up for the people!!

Overall it's Hammers best lyrical performance and the music is very good and origional with traces of Funk, Hip Hop, House, New Jack Swing and then contemporary R&B ( the Babyface school). The sounds used during that area and the drum programming grate on me a little, especially the keyboard sounds from that era, but the mix of live instruments, keyboards, samples and scratches was an innovative one for that time and should be studied now!

This album probably confused his mainstream fans and further aggravated his purist hip hop detractors. A story that many of his detractors would repeat themselves!!!!! But, that's what you get for standing up for what you believe in...and Hammer does that well here

2 out of 5 stars The Album That Earned Hammer The Sellout Tag {2 Stars}.......2007-01-26

I just wanted to start by making one point. If you defend this album by saying that it was a hit record or it has hit singles on it, you're actually doing it a disservice. Hit singles do not a good album make. Vanilla Ice had hits....his albums, for the most part, are terrible. So lets get past the number of hits and start looking for the quality, people.

MC Hammer is a special case. When I heard Hammer for the first time, I loved him (I was 11 or 12 at the time). He was fun, energetic, his voice was unique, and he could dance his butt off. But as I grew older and began to gain a better appreciation for good rap music, I began to look at Hammer as the symbol for all that was wrong with rap music. The flames were fanned by groups like 3rd Bass and A Tribe Called Quest (highly respected names in the rap world) that were openly bashing him nonstop. I was 14 years old when this album dropped and I was very impressionable when it came to the words of my favorite rappers. So if Q Tip or MC Serch said Hammer was wack, then I fell right in line with what they said with no questions asked.....and so did a whole lot of other people. Hammer didn't help matters any with his soft drink commercials, cartoons, by dropping MC from his moniker, or his sneaker ads. The mans face was everywhere. But unlike Vanilla Ice, the Prince to his Michael Jackson, Hammer had redeeming qualities. He didn't come off as goofy as Ice and he was spreading a positive message. Over the years, I've come to like Hammer again, but this particualr album just comes off way too cartoonish. It was almost as if he put all of his energy into everything but this album. There are a few tracks that are good for dancing to (Gaining Momentum, Too Legit To Quit, and This Is The Way We Roll), but they weren't enough to salvage things.

As far as flaws go, well, this is pretty much a pop album. At one point, MC Hammer himself said that he wasn't hip hop and that he would only refer to himself as an entertainer. As you can imagine, that rubbed a lot of the hip hop masses the wrong way. You can hear the effects of his train of thought all throughout the album. Corny beats? Check. Weak lyrics? Check. Radio friendly singles? Check. Lame, sing songy hooks? Check. Hammer should've spent more time penning lyrics instead of running around with Deion Sanders. Also, I couldn't stand him rolling his tongue in the middle of his words -- another change that came with this album. Highly, highly annoying.

Too Legit To Quit is pretty much a dance album. By hip hop standards, this album is a pretty much the definiton of what selling out is. Really, I have more respect for Hammer now than I did when this came out in '91. But this isn't his best effort at all. Really, this joint sounds more like an r&b album (which was TOTALLY unacceptable in the hardcore climate of hip hop back in '91. Despite two or three listenable tracks, I'd have to recommend passing on this album and picking up the singles if they're still out there to be had.

Standout Tracks: Gaining Momentum and Too Legit To Quit

1 out of 5 stars Painfully unlistenable.......2004-08-07

Man i found thiz album at a flea market and i thot i'd listen to it so my mom bought it for me and it sucked!!! The songs are so f***ing long it makes me sick and they seriously lack material. I don't know why everyone thinks this guy is so cool cuz he talks about the same s*** over and over and the choruses are waaaaaaay overplayed. DO NOT BUY THIS!! It wasn't even worth the 3 bucks i payed for it.

5 out of 5 stars "PLEASE ,PLEASE HAMMER DON'T HURT EM""YEAH RIGHT HURT'EM ALL.......1999-07-07

TO ALL THE HATERS OUT THERE. BACK UP AND LET THE BEST ENTERTAINER SINCE "MYSELF". TAKE HIS PLACE AT THE TOP OF THE HIP HOP WORLD'LET'S FACE IT THE BOY IS BBAADD. AND JUST LIKE HE BEEN AT THE TOP BEFORE HE WILL BE AT THE TOP AGAIN.SO LOOK OUT HE'S ABOUT TO STIR IT UP AGAIN HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. PEACE.

5 out of 5 stars WARNING !!! WARNING !!! WARNING !!! WARNING !!!.......1999-03-25

News... A bomb is in the place ....stop. This the most dangerous bomb of the century..stop. This Bomb is a bomb "H", "H" like "Hammer"...stop. You most be carefully ...stop. If you buy it you most know that you will dance during one century...stop. STOP ... HAMMER TIME !!!!!!! (lolo !!yep yep !!)

Soul Music:

  1. Underground Railroad, Vol. 1: Street Life (Hulled & Chopped)
  2. Vol. 1: Strange Games & Funky Things
  3. Westside Stories
  4. What Is It, Yo?!
  5. What the Game's Been Missing [Clean]
  6. Won't Be Denied [Explicit Lyrics]
  7. X-Filez, Vol. 3: The Madman Era [Explicit Lyrics]
  8. 360 Degrees of Uncut Game [Explicit Lyrics]
  9. 4 da Money [Explicit Lyrics]
  10. As the World Goes Round [Explicit Lyrics]

Soul Music

soul music

Recommended Music:

Bumpus Live

Dvorak: String Quartet No. 10, Op. 51; Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 26

Foolish Man

Music: Kirk Franklin & The Family

Surf Avenue

Io Non Ho Paura (Un Film Di Gabriele Salvatores) [Import]

Land o' the Leal

Great Italian Arias

Hallelujah

Hip City

newreleasebooks.com Music: 13

Evolucion

Estrellas de Argentina

Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6

Earl Hines with Alex Welsh