How to do mc hammer dance
MC Hammer Moves to Tap Online Dance Craze : NPR
MC Hammer Moves to Tap Online Dance Craze MC Hammer, the former poofy-panted rapper, is launching a Web site that will focus on dance videos. DanceJam arrives as many dancers, from flamenco artists to breakdancers, use the Internet to teach and promote their art.
Technology
Heard on Morning Edition
Cyrus Farivar
MC Hammer Moves to Tap Online Dance Craze
One of the videos on DanceJam features an 18-year-old from New York. DanceJam.com hide caption
See Video Clips on DanceJam
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MC Hammer's new Web site, DanceJam, focuses on dance videos. Charley Gallay/Getty Images hide caption
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Charley Gallay/Getty Images
MC Hammer's new Web site, DanceJam, focuses on dance videos.
Charley Gallay/Getty Images
The "Evolution of Dance" video has been viewed more than 66 million times on YouTube. YouTube.com hide caption
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Flip through the channels on TV these days and you're likely to run into someone dancing up a storm — or at least trying. Shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance have huge audiences.
The most popular YouTube video, called "Evolution of Dance," has been watched more than 66 million times. The Web is abuzz with video sharing and social-networking Web sites, including YouTube, MySpace, Dailymotion and Facebook.
But none of them have the star power of MC Hammer. An icon of the early 1990s pop charts ("U Can't Touch This,") MC Hammer has spent the past several months poking around Silicon Valley. He's now ready to launch his new venture, DanceJam, a site that focuses exclusively on dance videos. MC Hammer says that being exposed to a wider range of genres helps all dancers.
"As dancers we always like to add ... different flavors to our style," he says. "What I think it would do is broaden your style. With the advent of . .. DanceJam, you'll be able to see the emerging dances as they're happening."
Just as MP3s made it easier for garage bands to get noticed, video-sharing sites are now letting up-and-coming dancers influence one another. DanceJam also has features geared toward people who are trying to learn new moves online, including allowing visitors to watch dances in slow motion.
Many younger dancers are already using the Internet. Watching others dance helps them stay on top. Raymond Mora, or "Nasty Ray," is a 21-year-old breakdancer from San Jose. He says he often searches for b-boy videos on YouTube to see what other dancers are doing.
"And I find more of myself, too — I didn't even know who was recording me. I just see it online. And I was like 'Damn, already?' So I know someone's going to copy that move. So it kind of makes me want to step it up. If everybody sees my move already, then I know I have to step my own move up from watching it all over the place."
Other dancers use online video as a way to promote their material.
"Oftentimes, clients want to see you dance before they hire you and that's happened pretty frequently in the past year," says Melissa Cruz, a professional flamenco dancer from Oakland, Calif. "I think it's a great marketing tool."
MC Hammer says his site can take dancing, for both performers and fans, to the next level, with the best dancing reaching the widest number of people via the Web.
"From end-to-end, dancing goes so far," he says. "You know, from street dancing to Broadway dancing to modern to jazz to tap to cheerleading ...."
He's looking for a global audience, citing the popuarity of India's Bollywood films. "Dance drives every movie — so imagine the international implications there. So it's just a great opportunity for a language that is global to do really well."
Even if MC Hammer hasn't performed in his signature pants in years, he hasn't given up dancing entirely. He will be contributing some new dance videos when the site launches in a few weeks.
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MC Hammer Reveals Why He Strived To Be 'A Complete Artist' Instead Of Just A Rapper
Courtesy of POLR Group
MC Hammer captivated the music world in the late ’80s when he stepped on stage with his billowy pants — now properly referred to as “Hammer pants” — and unparalleled dance moves.
In 1990, he dropped his third studio album Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em, which spawned the massive hit “U Can’t Touch This,” a pop-infused rap song that incorporated the timeless sounds of the inimitable Rick James.
As a result, the Bay Area native became the first Hip Hop artist to achieve diamond status for an album. In the nearly 30 years since, the now-ordained minister has continued performing.
This year, the 57-year-old artist embarked on the Hammer’s House Party Tour that included a rotating cast of popular ’90s acts such as En Vogue, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Kid ‘n Play, Sisqo, Doug E. Fresh, Tone Loc, Montell Jordan and 2 Live Crew. It marked his first major tour since 1991.
On Friday (November 27), Hammer will also perform during the Bay Area Reunion concert at the Oakland Arena alongside En Vogue, Luniz, Digital Underground and a reunited Tony! Toni! Tone!
Although his pants may be a little smaller, his dance moves are still just as cool and calculated as they were in the ’90s. In an interview with HipHopDX, Hammer reveals how he stays in shape, what constitutes a “complete artist” and why he once said he wasn’t a rapper.
HipHopDX: You took a long time off from touring. What made Hammer’s House Party Tour and this upcoming Bay Area show the right time to start really performing again?
MC Hammer: I’ve always been doing shows, but I hadn’t done an official tour. I felt like with Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Them turning 30 next year, it’s a specific milestone. I knew when that anniversary came, I wanted to celebrate it in a particular fashion. So the House Party would be like the warm-up to the celebration of Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Them, the 30th anniversary.
HipHopDX: I was watching some of the live performances from that tour and you could easily still be 25 years old out there. What’s your secret to staying in shape?
MC Hammer: Well, thank you. That was one of the main things. So yes, I’ll answer that question leading into the conditioning part. What I wanted to do was introduce three generations at one time to a certain level of performance excellence that I know they haven’t seen; let them see it live and whet the appetite for it. And that’s what we’ve been able to do. I’m proud of my whole team, my crew and my dancers.
“We really wanted to make sure that it’s all on a Hammer excellence level of performance and have the fun and bring the fun, the joy of the culture to these new generations. And so in order to do that, you got to be in top condition. I mean, performing is nothing like it on the planet. I’ve got my football player friends … they get out there for about five minutes and say, “Hammer, you crazy. How can you go at that level for a hour and a half?”
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At the end of the day … you can’t get around puttin’ in the work … I started and I’m Finishing my weight workout with some cardio ? ??????
A post shared by MC HAMMER (@mchammer) on
So, it goes back to what you eat, the way you work out, the hours that you put in training and mastering your craft. It all comes into play. Then you gotta love it; love it like it’s not a task. I look forward to working out. I love going to the gym. I love dancing. And so I look at it like a sport, and I understand it as a sport, and then I understand the give and take of the energy. I give my energy to people and they return the energy. It’s very spiritual and it’s very intimate. All of that kind of just creates a special environment.
HipHopDX: In an old interview you did with Maria Shriver, you said the difference between you and other “rappers” is that you’re an entertainer. You’re not really a rapper per se. You rap, you don’t sing, but you’re an entertainer. I see that. I couldn’t get bored watching you.
MC Hammer: Well, thank you. Today, I would say entertainer, but I would also use the word artist, more complete artist. Because you know, rapping is literally one aspect. You have people who are really good at rapping and they call themselves a lyricist. They are good at the verse and may not be good at picking beats. They may not be good at production. They may not be good at mixing. They may not be good at performing.
They may not be good at putting on a show. They may be missing 10 other things. But they are good at rapping the verse, but you may never remember a song they do ’cause they may not be good at writing choruses. Right? So what I wanted to be, from the beginning, is a complete artist. I want to rap, do production, put on a show, melodies, chorus, harmony — everything that makes up being an artist. To me, that equals great entertainment.
HipHopDX: I have honestly had “Pray” stuck in my head since losing my mom a few months ago. That’s a memorable song.
MC Hammer: Let me first say, my condolences on your mother passing. I can’t imagine, but I know you got the great memories. You hold on to those. Just to even have you say that “Pray” brings you some joy, I’m humbled by that.
HipHopDX: It’s a great song! You’ve got Prince, Faith No More and you have MC Hammer. We need that kind of positivity, too.
MC Hammer: I hope you get to see how we do “Pray. ” The performance of “Pray” is at the top of my favorite moments of our show. I mean, the Prince element is even heightened. There are three or four different dance styles that we incorporate into the performance. They stretch all the way into ballet. It’s crazy, right? And then we have the tambourines — it’s crazy. It’s a real spiritual moment and a celebration of life and all that. If you can’t catch us at The Oracle, next year during the 30th celebration, make sure you catch it. It’s a beautiful moment.
HipHopDX: Oakland has produced so much good music. A lot of people don’t even realize you and Tupac were friends and that you were signed to Death Row Records briefly. Your involvement in Oakland Hip Hop was pretty deep. Now, you’re playing with Digital Underground, which I thought was interesting. Didn’t they lightweight mock you in the Sex Packets cover art? [Editor’s note: In the CD insert of the Sex Packets album, they placed Hammer’s photo in with the other members and referred to him as an “unknown derelict.”]
MC Hammer: No, I never heard of that. In the album cover?
HipHopDX: Yeah. Supposedly there was a stab at you in their cover art, but I didn’t know if that was true or not.
MC Hammer: Until you just said that, I never heard that before.
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Meanwhile 2 days ago …. ???
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HipHopDX: Interesting. Are you looking forward to playing with them?
MC Hammer: I love Digital Underground. Money-B is my man, Shock G … I love Digital Underground. The music and the funk is unbelievable. So no, I wasn’t aware of that, but I’m looking forward to seeing their show. They got some great music.
HipHopDX: I talked to Ice-T yesterday and I know you’ve been friends. He always kind of had your back. Do you stay in touch?
MC Hammer: I’ve seen him at different points from time to time. Yeah. I love Ice-T. You know, we started off together. That’s my partner. We go way back to the very beginning.
HipHopDX: I love that you’ve always kind of pushed this idea of clean living. Do you ever use your platform to speak to kids about instead of getting into drugs and alcohol, maybe get into athletics, musics and get into dancing?
MC Hammer: I let my music and my lifestyle speak for itself. In my music and the upcoming project as well, I address specifically mental health and focus on mental health along with obviously trying to be in condition. So that’s the way I address it.
For tickets to the Bay Area Reunion show, head here.
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MC Hammer - You Can't Touch This lyrics Oh my god (You can't do this again) the music hits me right in the heart
And I say, "God, thank you for giving me
A sense of rhythm and two hippy legs"
Feels incredible
When you feel humiliated
The fiery boy from Octown appears,
That's what they call me,
Here's a rhythm for you,
You can't repeat.
I told you, boy,
You can't do it again,
Yeah, that's how we live, but you know -
You can't do it again,
Look me in the eyes, man,
You can't do it again,
Hey, let me finish my song,
You can't do it again.
Fresh moves and trendy pants -
You've got it because you want to dance
Get your ass up
Find a classy girl and catch the beat
Until it stops
Hold on
Set a new beat and let the people pick it up,
That's it,
That's it!
Let fatigue knock them off their feet,
Let them know that you are cool
And this rhythm
They will not be able to repeat.
Hey, I told you -
You can't do that again,
What are you doing, man?
You can't repeat this,
Hey, the bell rang, you gotta go to school, sucker!
You can't do that again.
Give me a song or a rhythm
And I'll make anyone sweat,
That's what I do.
Now they know
When you talk about Hammer, you talk about the show0003 It's cool, but hard,
The singers are sweating, pass them a towel,
Well, or my cassette, let them learn.
What will we take with us in the 90s?
Burn all the circuits,
Work harder or get out!
These are just words, but you know -
You won't repeat it,
You won't repeat it.
Fire it up!
Stop... Hammer time.
Move funky,
Just so you know:
If you can't rock to this,
You're probably dead!
Throw your hands in the air,
Do a couple of moves, run your fingers through your hair,
This is what you need for a cold winter,
Dance like this if you want to lose weight,
Move your backside,
Just for a minute, make your whole body pulsate:
Bam, bam, bam!
Yeah, you can't do it again,
Look man, you can't do it again,
You better get smarter,
Boy, you know you can't,
You can't do it again,
The bell rang, you gotta go to school ,
Fire it up!
Stop. Hammer time.
You won't do it again [4x]
Fire it up!
Stop. Hammer time.
Every time you see me
Hammer is really cool
You can't see enough of me on the dance floor
I'm a magician on stage
So why should I
Quit it?
While others are recording songs
That don't turn people on.
I've been on tour around the world
From London to London
This is the Hammer, go Hammer, MC* Hammer, hey Hammer,
And let the rest of them walk from here,
They can't repeat this rhythm.
You won't do it again [3x]
Yes, you won't do it again,
I told you, you won't do it again,
Too proud, you won't do it again,
Get out of here, you won't do it again.
My God, (you do not replicate) music hits me right in the heart,
And I say, "God, thank you gave me
Sense of rhythm and the two hippies with their feet"
Sensations - unbelievable,
When you feel humiliated,
Appears fiery guy from Oktauna,
So call me,
Here's the rhythm,
Which you do not repeat.
I told you, kid,
You do not repeat,
Yes, we live, but you know -
You do not repeat,
Look me in the eye, man,
You do not repeat,
Hey, let me finish singing my song,
You will not be repeated.
Recent movements and fancy pants -
There you have it, because you want to dance,
So raise as his ass ** zu,
Find stylish girl and catch the rhythm,
While he does not subsided,
Hold on,
Ask a new rhythm and let people catch him,
Like this,
Like this!
Let fatigue dump them down,
Let them know that you - cool
And this rhythm
They can not be repeated.
Hey, I'm told -
You do not repeat,
As you stand, dude?
You do not repeat,
Hey, wake up call, time for you to school, sucker!
You will not be repeated.
Give me a song or rhythm
And I will make someone want to sweat,
That's what I do.
Now they know
When you talk about the Hammer, you're talking about the show,
It's cool, but it's hard,
Singers sweat, give them a towel,
Well, or my tape, let pouchatsya.
What do we take with him to the 90th?
Burn all the schemes,
Work hard and go out!
These are just words, but you know -
You do not repeat,
You will not be repeated.
Start the Party!
Stop ... Hammer Time.
Move funky,
Just so you know:
If you are unable to light under it,
What you are likely to be dead!
Toss your hands in the air,
Sbatsat couple of movements, swipe the hair,
This - what you need for the cold winter,
Dance so if you want to lose weight,
Move rear seat,
Only for a moment Make your whole body throb:
Bang, bang, bang!
Yes, you do not repeat,
Look, dude, you do not repeat,
You'd better be ponavorochenney,
Boy, you know that you can not,
You do not repeat,
Ring the bell, you ought to school
Start the Party!
Stop. Hammertime.
You do not repeat [4x]
Start the Party!
Stop. Hammertime.
Every time you see me,
Hammer - really cool,
For behold I was not on the dance floor,
And on stage I - magician
So why should I
Throw this thing?
While others write songs,
Without burning people.
I traveled all over the world on tour,
From London and to London,
It - Hammer, forward, Hammer, Hammer Em Si * hey, Hammer,
And let the rest walk away,
They do not repeat the rhythm.
You do not repeat [3x]
Yes, you do not repeat,
I told you, you do not repeat,
Too proud, you do not repeat,
Motel from here, you will not be repeated.
See also:
- MC Hammer - I Like Big Boots
- MC Hammer
- MC Hammer - I like big boobs
- MC Hammer - I Like Big Butts And I Cannot Lie
- MC Hammer - I Like Big Butts
In the 90s, rapper MC Hammer developed a game, but today U Can't Touch This / Sudo Null IT News
Released for the US market in October 1992, the Sega CD held up well for the first few months, but quickly began to lose commercial popularity. This was mainly due to too much pre-release hype. Consumers quickly realized that the amazing FMV games they were being promoted turned out to be mediocre. Misleading advertising, as well as a host of other factors, resulted in the system's commercial failure.
The collapse of the console caused many companies to stop seeing the Sega CD as a profitable market. Because of this, the development of many games (mostly ports of already released projects) stopped, and they themselves remained on the floor of the assembly shop and were forgotten.
One of the most famous Sega CD games, also later cancelled, was " Hammer vs. Evil D. in Soulfire ". This game is licensed by rapper MC Hammer best known for 2 Legit 2 Quit , U Can't Touch This and many other less successful songs. Anyone remember Addams Groove ?
Little was known about this game. Yes, many sites published articles where they mentioned its existence, but no one really digged into the history of the game. For many years, the maximum information about the project known to the public was a 17-second video uploaded to YouTube by user Jumpstreet Beetz.
This video is taken from a promotional footage shown at Winter CES '94 gives us a general idea of how the game should have looked. In the clip, MC Hammer is in some kind of alley and shoots different enemies. Meanwhile, an FMV recording of one of Hammer's music videos plays in the center of the screen.
In fact, this is the only thing we had to start with. After WCES '94, nothing was heard about the game, except for a few mentions in the magazine, indicating that its release was scheduled for March of this year.
But she didn't come out.
With little to no publicly available information, I started my own research to find out more about the game. After spending some time distracting from the work of various specialists, I found out the following.
Soulfire was developed by GTE Interactive Media. Founded in January 1990, GTE Interactive Media (also known as GTE Imagitrek) was the approximately 40-member California branch of GTE Vantage. Their mission was to develop interactive software and games for the home market.
The first published GTE game was the 1991 arcade game Time Traveler for Sega. Developed by Dragon's Lair creator Rick Dyer, Time Traveler is notable for being one of the first examples of FMV arcade games. In marketing materials, Sega called it "the world's first holographic video game". Given her experience with FMV games, it's not surprising that GTE later moved into development for the Sega CD. FMV games were a hallmark of the Sega CD.
“GTE Imagitrek pioneered chroma key technology and has used it in a variety of console and arcade games,” says former GTE programmer Tim Bank.
References to Soulfire date back to 1992, probably after the completion of Time Traveler . The game was advertised at Summer CES '92, but development had hardly begun at the time and the project was simply called " Hammer ". Sega used only one of Hammer's video clips in the ad.
Development of the game started the following year. Former Cinematronics programmer Phil Sorger was hired as lead programmer and game designer, with Sean Hennessy later joining the project.
“Today it seems crazy that five people are involved in the development of a game, but at the time it was,” Phil tells me. “One person was engaged in digitization, he worked with an artist. This artist did the final edits, created the UI, backgrounds, animations, and more. We also had a designer who also acted as director of filming and Superman for the entire project.”
“I started development, then another developer joined the project, but for a long time he just understood the structure of the work. I integrated all the graphics, sound and video streaming, and wrote all the features and gameplay."
Phil told me about the Sega CD development environment, which he considers to be one of the most complex hardware systems he's encountered in his 30-year programming career. It had three processors with three circuit emulators, so it was necessary to synchronize the three computers on which the development was carried out. All code was written in pure assembler, and each processor had its own language.
"The DMA system used to transfer data between SegaCD buffers and Genesis buffers was more like magic than technology," says Phil. “It was difficult to implement any feature, and it was even more difficult to create a demo on CD. I'm the only one in GTE/Verizon who has mastered this scheme."
[Note: GTE Interactive was not owned by Verizon, but its parent company, GTE, became Verizon in 2000]
The game's plot involved the player character (M.C Hammer) fighting zombie creatures called "suckers". souls", turning their cursed souls into members of their squad. Usually the level was a street, like the levels from Double Dragon . Hammer said the name of the level, the music turned on and the character of the game began to dance to it.
Waves of hooligans and criminals entered the stage from left and right. The size of the waves and their strength depended on the level. Hammer shot the so-called "soulfire" at criminals and turned them into members of his squad. After the transformation, the characters changed their appearance and began to dance next to M.C Hammer. They moved with Hammer and could collide with other criminals, depending on the level, either turning them into squad members or turning back into criminals themselves.
Approximately ten levels were completely created, as well as several levels with bosses (one of these boss battles is recorded in the clip from CES). Phil said that the boss level started at the end of the street, usually in an alley.
“There were no squad members here and Hammer encountered one of the incarnations of evil. Hammer could get injured and miss notes, stop hitting the music and die. Evil DJ fired green "evilfire" balls at Hammer, Hammer fired "soul fire" at Evil DJ, and life bars tracked progress. The video in the background should be ominous and large to distract the player from aiming."
Background FMV and music played from the screens located on the levels. In Phil's words, "it was just a regular loop/fork track with a click track to sync up the dances."
All character animations were digitized from film recorded against a chroma key background. Then the records were divided and frame-by-frame compressed. This work was carried out by a team of artists led by Laurie Nichols.
Interestingly, MC Hammer himself showed great interest in the project, and did not just license it to his own name. Phil even said that he was amazed by Hammer's knowledge of the video game industry. According to Hammer, the main problem of the project was the resolution of the game, he was worried about pixelation at the digitization stage.
So why was the game cancelled? There are actually many reasons, but the most important was the noticeable decline in the popularity of MC Hammer as a brand.
By 1994, Hammer's fame began to fade, the world was already in search of a new musical sensation, leaving him behind.
According to Tim, when interest in the game was tested in a focus group, the subjects rejected the project, calling it obsolete. GTE marketing manager Stephanie Witte was "totally overwhelmed" by the results of the focus group check.
“She said that when everyone got together, they turned on MC Hammer,” Tim tells me. “Study participants asked if they could listen to something else.”
Phil Sorger remembers this story in a very different way. While M.C Hammer's decline in success was a big factor in the game's cancellation, Phil recalls that the game also had rights issues and was not considered "suitable for kids" by Sega. Another major factor was the already mentioned commercial collapse of the Sega CD. All these, and perhaps other factors, coincided, so the MC Hammer project was considered commercially doomed. The appearance of the game at WCES 1994 years was the last before its cancellation, despite the fact that the game was 100% ready and packaged and shipped.
GTE Interactive continued to make console games after the Soulfire project, namely Jammit (Sega Genesis) and Street Hockey '95 (Super Nintendo). These games are notable for using the same technology (and even graphics!) as Soulfire , at least according to Tim Bank.
With the exception of these two games, GTE Interactive has focused entirely on creating software on CD-ROM throughout its existence. After the downturn in the CD-ROM market, GTE was unable to find a buyer for its branch, and on January 1997, it was announced that the company would cease to exist in March of that year.
However, all is not lost. Phil Sorger, now a professional ski instructor, generously shared with us a collection of art and technical resources left over from the development of the game. They included digitized Hammer sprites and layouts for the game's box graphics.
Official resources for MC Hammer's lost game Soulfire can be downloaded from here.