How to do the can t touch this dance
‘U Can’t Touch This’ by MC Hammer Essay Example [1388 Words]
Table of Contents
MC Hammer released his track ‘U Can’t Touch This’ in January 1990 before releasing his third album Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Em. This paper reviews the hit single as it delves into its Merriam Function and the views three separate people had on it.
MC Hammer, a popular hip-hop and pop-rap artist released his song ‘U Can’t Touch This’ (Burrell, James, & Miller, 1990)which went onto become his most successful single. Receiving five nominations, winning two awards and reaching the top of the charts in multiple countries, the song is still remembered today by many and is considered by me to be good music. The song was written by Stanley Kirk Burrell, Rick James, and Alonzo Miller and performed by Stanley Kirk Burrell, commonly known as MC Hammer. The beat of the song encourages any person to get up off their chair and dance to its hip-hop rhythm.
The song’s melody is simple with MC Hammer singing the same lines repeatedly. It mainly uses computer generated beats and a bass guitar. The song does not make use of acoustic instruments such as a guitar or piano. The melody of the song offers little variation and instead repeats the same riff throughout the recording. The riff used is the same as that in ‘Super Freak’, a signature single by Rick James, However, three times during the song an electric melody is introduced for a few seconds always to serve as a dance interval. MC Hammer also incorporates the use of human voices as a harmony to the melody. The song is four minutes and sixteen seconds in length.
In 1964, Merriam A. P created Merriam’s Functions of Music. These are ten ways or functions that a person engages with the music in a culture or society (Schubert, 2009). Music can serve as a stimulant or means of emotional expression. This is one of the biggest ways music is used commercially in areas like movie soundtracks. Music could also serve the purpose of communication or enforce conformity to social norms.
This is especially used in classrooms to educate children on social etiquette or to reinforce values held by the community.
Thirdly, music could serve as aesthetic enjoyment or entertainment. These two functions relate to MC Hammer’s song that offers entertainment to the listeners in the form of the witty lines MC Hammer raps. An additional function that music serves, which also applies to this song, is a physical response. A song can be used to encourage people to physically move in a specific way such as an upbeat song encouraging a runner to run faster. ‘U Can’t Touch This’ is an upbeat song that invites the listener to move and dance. This call to dance is clearly reflected in the line MC Hammer raps “Dance to this…” Through the music video, MC Hammer even created a specific dance move. For those that viewed the video, the song may evoke the desire to perform that dance move.
Different Points Of View on the Hit Single
The first person to listen to the song was my father.
Immediately upon hearing the song, his eyes light up as the familiar tune played, a tune he liked. The song reminded him of ‘them days’ when he younger in university and it brought back fond memories. He noted that in the late 1980s and throughout the1990s, the hip-hop and rap music scene was being transformed with the likes of N.W.A. At that time, hip-hop had a meaning and served the function of emotional expression and communicating the harsh reality many people experienced in the ghetto. However, with MC Hammer, his music served for entertainment and had a light tone compared to some of the heavy reality-filled hip-hop songs of that time. He was not the only artist to release more carefree hip-hop jams but he was definitely one of the most popular. One of the most distinctive features of this tune that stood out for my father was the beat. The type of beats created virtually and used in this song is no longer used presently. In fact, the beat immediately allows one to place the song in the 1990’s as it was the type of beat was commonly used then.
Another feature that made the song so enjoyable to my father was the lyrics. The lyrics use the slang and jargon of that time making it easy for my father to relate and understand what MC Hammer was trying to say. For a listener like myself, I wouldn’t be able to fully understand their meaning.
This was also stated by the second person, a friend of my age. They too struggled to grasp the full meaning of the lyrics and understand what MC Hammer was trying to talk about in every line. However, they understood the general message of the song; MC Hammer is rapping about his talent and stellar ability to create music and then perform it. From the lyrics “You talking about the Hammer you talking about a show” to “… let me bust the funky lyrics”, MC Hammer was clearly setting a self-admiring tone to the song. One interesting function that my friend noted was symbolic representation. The song stands a symbol of the 1990s and the rhythm of that time. Referring to the song as a ‘throwback’ my friend went on to explain that it was an old-school song that represents her parent’s generation and that era.
A melodic feature that stood out for my friend was the electric harmony previously mentioned. It’s played three times through the song and my friend found all three times annoying. Instead of the sound encouraging her to move or dance, it irritated her. The song, in general, was tolerable but she didn’t enjoy it. She didn’t like the song but recognized it as a hit of its time. She agreed with the first person’s view that the song also serves the Merriam function of entertainment but disagreed on its function of physical response. It didn’t serve that function for her and didn’t make her want to get up and move.
The third and last person to listen to the song was a male friend my age. He heard the song and immediately got up to dance and do the popular dance move. Throughout the song, he continued to dance to the beat as he sang along to some of the lyrics he knew. This song wasn’t new to him as his uncle would constantly play and dance to it when he was younger. For him, the song served the functions of emotional expression, entertainment, physical response, and communication.
The emotional expression came from the memories of childhood it invoked and the emotion of happiness it brought out. Entertainment came out from the enjoyable tune and how pleasant it was to him to listen to the tune. The physical response was due to all dancing and how the song made him feel like moving. Lastly, the function of communication came from the lyrics of the song. This friend had a clearer understanding of the lyrics and this may be due to the fact that he had the reference of his uncle to ask for explanations and meanings. What stood out the most for him in this song was the popular phrase “can’t touch this” where MC Hammer refers to himself as being too talented to be competed with. This friend agreed that the song is good music and thoroughly enjoyed the track.
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Conclusion
The song ‘U Can’t Touch This’ was written by Stanley Kirk Burrell, Rick James and Alonzo Miller and performed by Stanley Kirk Burrell also known as MC Hammer.
Released in 1990, the song was a big hit that was recognized internationally and is what I consider to be good music. The views offered from the three parties are varying in nature. Two agreed that the song is good music and they both enjoyed listening to it. In both, it invoked dancing and participation. The third view, however, was differing and the person thought the tune annoying and old. They struggled to relate to it and didn’t enjoy the song or think it good music. However, if going with the majority, the song can be concluded to be good music and all parties involved definitely agreed that it is a memorable tune.
Viral ‘Can’t Touch This’ principal wants to compete on 'Dancing with the Stars'
A principal’s parody of an MC Hammer video emphasizing COVID-19 guidelines has captured the heart of America and much of the world over the past three weeks, garnering more than 5.8 million views so far.
Dr. Quentin Lee shows off his dance moves. (contributed)After conducting almost 30 national and international interviews (and counting) in the past two weeks, Quentin Lee, the Childersburg High School principal behind the video, said the media attention is starting to settle down … a little.
But the creativity and passion and drive for excellence of the man behind the video is undiminished. You could say he’s too legit to quit.
“I think this is a win for educators all over,” Lee said of the video’s popularity. “We’re literally leading this country. And even though things might not go the way that we think they should go, we have an influence, and as long as we’re doing everything we can do for our kids, that influence is going to win at the end of the day.”
Up next: Lee said he wants to compete on “Dancing with the Stars,” and he’s got the moves to hold his own.
The video of a masked Lee armed with Lysol while dancing and reminding his students that they “Can’t Touch This” has inspired other educators to produce their own creative ways of hammering home the coronavirus guidelines of washing hands, wearing masks and social distancing.
“A bright spot has been to look at social media and see other schools are putting out videos to do kind of the same thing.
It’s been cool to lead that initiative, not just for the county but for the nation,” he said. “I did see two ladies that were out of Albany, I think it was, they did an original rap with a dance. It was awesome. I feel challenged, so there will be a response.”
Another school produced “Mask Mask Baby” to the tune of Vanilla Ice’s 1990 hit “Ice Ice Baby.” But the others have yet to gain the same level of traction as Lee’s “Can’t Touch This.” Since posting the video, he’s done as many as seven interviews in one day.
“I’ve done two Australian interviews; I did an interview with a German news broadcast channel; a Japanese channel called, but they didn’t have enough time to translate the actual broadcast,” he said. “I’ve been on with Anderson Cooper, Lester Holt, Hoda from the ‘Today’ show, I did a ‘Global Hangout’ for NBC last week. It’s been mind-blowing to see people that I see on TV and just have a casual conversation with them.”
Dr. Quentin Lee appeared with his children on HLN, one of dozens of interviews he has done as a result of his viral video.
(contributed)Lee has been able to juggle all the interviews, produce his weekly “Kicking It with Dr. Lee” online school updates, plus maintain his family and church responsibilities, all while preparing to return to an unprecedented school year with kids this Thursday.
“Not any of this is through my own might,” he said. “It’s all God – staying focused to what’s the goal and what’s the mission. My wife (Anita) has become my manager; she handles all of the bookings and all of the inquiries. She’s been my backbone through this, and I’m really thankful for her.”
Lee said those who know him can count on him not allowing the newfound fame to change who he is at his core, and that starts with his role as a family man. He had the two youngest of his three children join him on camera last week for an interview with HLN.
“Having my kids was really fun. They loved it,” he said. “I said ‘Hey guys, you guys might be in other videos, you gotta do this, you gotta do that, and of course they didn’t understand a lot of it, but they were able to see themselves on TV and they loved it.
It was just really cool to be able to share that with them.”
Other things that warrant the “really cool” label, Lee said, include having his video retweeted by MC Hammer. “He said he loved it and gave me respect. That was definitely a moment I’ll always remember.”
I love it !!! 😂😷😎 Salute Dr.Lee pic.twitter.com/2ohVRypuAe
— MC HAMMER (@MCHammer) August 4, 2020
Lee said he’s also enjoyed interacting with local media from east Alabama and the Birmingham market.
“You can’t be national unless you’re local first,” he said. “This is home, so I definitely enjoy being able to talk to people who are around and understand the work we’ve done.”
Men’s Wearhouse showed its appreciation by giving Lee two suits, two shirts and two ties.
“That was amazing because I really wanted a new suit to go back to school, but with finances, that wasn’t something I could do at this time,” he said. “They were able to meet a need they didn’t realize, so that was something I will definitely remember.
”
Among the other perks: Reckitt Benckiser, the company that makes Lysol, donated four boxes of its cleaning and disinfectant products to the school; Varsity Brands gave Lee its “Go Be Great” award and will send floor markers with the Childersburg High School logo to promote social distancing; and White Castle selected Lee for its most recent “Crave the Good” spotlight.
“It’s just amazing that people are seeing this and want to partner with us and sow into our school,” he said. “That’s just been really cool to share with the teachers and when the kids come back, I’ll get to share with them.”
Considering the toxic environment across the country, Lee said he believes the video resonates because people need healing.
“We all need an opportunity to just breathe and love,” he said. “It’s also nostalgic. MC Hammer transcended race barriers. We need things to remind us of the human side. There’s always a racial issue about everything, but this was one of those things that wasn’t.
I receive fan mail now. It’s just been overwhelming the positivity that’s come out of this.”
In a Facebook live video posted on Aug. 5, Lee set out to update his followers on the success of the video and caught himself off guard when he became emotional while acknowledging his mother.
“My mom fought long and hard with colon cancer, stage 4,” he explained in an interview this week with Alabama NewsCenter. “After being given two death sentences, she lived nine years.”
Lee said his mother taught him and his five brothers how to love each other, to love others, how to speak to people and how to be kind to people.
Dr. Quentin Lee and his family. (contributed)“That’s what I try to instill in my students and what I try to live each and every day,” he said. “So, during that moment, I just know how proud my mom was of me and how she always encouraged me. These are things I wish I could share with her, but I know she’s looking down from heaven because this is what she taught us to do.
It was just a moment to be thankful and reflect.”
Starting his 16th year as an educator, Lee looks at how far he’s come in his career and in life.
“A Black man with a doctorate degree, leading a school and everything that comes along with it – it just gets overwhelming to know that God loves me so much that he would allow me to experience this kind of success for just doing something that’s natural.”
One of the things that comes natural for Lee is dancing, and he said it would be “really fun” to be a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”
“I know they’re doing casting for it now, and if I could go on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ that would be great,” he said, “just using this platform to promote the power of education and what educators are capable of doing.”
Lee hopes the takeaway for people in general, but especially educators, is to never second-guess what you’re doing, as long as your motives and intentions are pure.
“I definitely want to use this as a platform to inspire educators, parents and kids across the country,” he said.
“We wanted to get a message out to keep our kids safe, and it turns out we were able to keep kids everywhere safe, and we were able to share some joy in the process.”
Why will we never dance bachata like the Dominicans?
Dominicans dance bachata differently: light, uncomplicated, plastic. Their attitude to dance is simple - first of all, it is a communication tool, and never an end in itself. Almost none of them learned to dance specifically, in the Dominican Republic there are no bachata schools for locals, but everyone fervently moves their hips from birth.
On the island, a few people can explain the basics of plastic surgery or how to do the steps. And even then, they are mostly professional choreographers who dance other dances besides bachata. But the naturalness and smoothness of the movements of most ordinary Dominicans is fascinating.
Our bachata is the result of training and labor
Europeans who dance bachata outside the Dominican Republic know what is right in music, what can and cannot be done, where are the boundaries of style and are aware of the intricacies of figure building.
For a long time they learned the right flow, the right swing, the right plastique. Therefore, their bachata is more choreographic, more systematic and calculated, they take the dance seriously. Some are so serious that they start non-children's international holivars, distribute those who dance correctly and who do not into different camps.
For Dominicans, dancing is just one aspect of communication
Dominicans don't care how they dance. They are fascinated by the choreography of a moderna bachata dancer visiting the Dominican Republic and touched when a white man tries to dance authentically. He tries - because in order to really dance like the Dominicans, you must first of all treat the dance in the same way, without piety, without cultivating a single correct style, forgetting that music can be counted. And above all, local dancers never make dance the main occasion of any event, be it a festival, a party or a meeting with friends.
Dance is only an addition to communication, a means for intimacy, for harmonizing and synchronizing the surrounding reality - music, a loved one, a buzz from movement. Therefore, when you go to an average Dominican party, you will see a lot of noisy drinking people, and dancers dancing just one figure during the whole evening. One Carl!
Video from the personal archive of Dasha Elizarova, project Bachateame Mamita
All the rules, consistency, figure building, disputes about how to dance a real bachata, authentic festivals were either created by non-minicans or appeared outside the island.
Dominicans are mainly engaged in each other, and dancing is a great prelude for this.
Video from the personal archive of Dasha Elizarova, project Bachateame Mamita
Women's style in bachata
We turn dance into a big event with rules
It's hard for us to give up the idea that dance should be varied, interesting, spectacular.
From the idea that it is important to dance to a certain score, to break music into eights.
It is difficult to question the words of a beloved teacher who says that if you dance differently, you will betray the style. It is difficult to let go of yourself and your body, to go beyond the learned figures, it is difficult to improvise, it is difficult to find yourself in the dance.
But we dance the way we dance, because, unlike the Dominicans, we all learned this. We studied at dance schools, where they explained to us how to do it and how not to. And where very little attention is paid to the most important thing, to what the majority came to dance for - the pleasure of dancing, improvisation, attention to the person with whom you are dancing. To a person, girl or man, and not a partner or partner, from whom you expect the correct conduct or execution of figures.
As a result, at parties, outside of dancing, we see bored figures buried in phones, waiting girls sadly sitting on the edges of the dance floor, and only occasionally - cheerful broken companies from those schools where communication is as important as dance.
We will never really dance bachata like the Dominicans. We came to dance for completely different reasons, we treat it in a completely different way, and it's too difficult to change it. Yes, and no need to change.
It is important to follow your line of dance development
We have a lot to learn from the Dominicans: ease of attitude to dance and the surrounding reality, the ability to find your own unique style within two or three basic steps. But, unlike them, the majority of dance school visitors are looking for, in addition to new communication, something completely different - an interesting hobby, an opportunity for self-realization, discovering new possibilities for their body and mind, a variety of figures and footwork, new approaches and interesting theories.
And in the Dominican Republic itself, there are dancers who are distinguished by the richness of their steps, their elegantly controlled style, a wide range of figures, and the clarity of lines and movements.
Or too bright, too prominent character of the dance. But they usually say about such people that they dance inauthenticly, not the way they should.
Video from the personal archive of Dasha Elizarova, project Bachateame Mamita
We will never really dance bachata like the Dominicans. We came to dance for completely different reasons, we treat it in a completely different way, and it's too difficult to change it. Yes, and no need to change.
It is important to understand that with all possible trajectories of learning and immersion in culture, the most incorrect is the literal and blind copying of the external feed. Either find yourself, your style and your pleasure, as the Dominicans do, or develop yourself as a dancer without looking back at the external match with any original.
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Dangerous sexuality - Mamita dance school article
Couple dances are sexy. This is inherent in the very nature of the relationship between a man and a woman. Anyone who has ever danced with a couple knows this. It doesn't matter if it was a slow dance at a school party or a professional class at a dance school. We feel it, and it draws us to each other.
Intuition doesn't deceive us until we try to help our sexual nature. After all, we want to be even more spectacular and attractive. More often than not, we cannot admit it openly, as it is not accepted in our culture.
Nevertheless, socially acceptable leisure shakes up an inner sexuality that is obviously directed at members of the opposite sex.
We can more or less control our movements, but how much control can we have over our sexuality, and where can that lead us?
This is an obvious thesis, which, upon closer examination, becomes the cornerstone of the formation of a sense of one's gender.
The fact is that sexuality in dance is determined not by the movements that we perform, but by an internal vector that is focused on members of the opposite sex. We look at the average salsateca and more often than not we see teammates rather than male and female couples. From the point of view of step technique, delivery, role in a couple, improvisation and other things, they are neutral sexless “people”. They hold hands, move according to predetermined patterns and do not cling to anything inside.
Sexuality implies first of all that a man is obviously a man and a woman is a woman. Their roles and presentation are fundamentally different in dance.
Trajectories of dance growth
First of all, we discuss the positioning of a man and a woman in a pair. The partner dances for everyone. She must be beautiful in dancing. How beautiful she is in dancing shows how successful the partner is. The partner flows and attracts the attention of everyone: the partner, the audience, the cosmos.
She is the epitome of beauty.
A man is essentially functional. His task is to create the basis for the beauty of a partner, to reveal it from the best side. A man should always be in the shadow of a woman and not draw attention to himself with spectacular pas. His strength and masculinity is revealed through how feminine a partner becomes in his hands.
A self-admiring partner becomes uncomfortably feminine. A partner who is actively involved in the functioning of the couple instantly loses attractiveness.
Three hypostases of a dancer
Society puts many forms on our person. The number of social roles and behaviors confuses the question of how to behave in a given situation. In dancing, at least, we are represented as representatives of our gender (male or female), the subject of interaction (partner or partner) and the bearer of choreography (dancer or dancer).
The right balance of roles can make an equally prepared dancer from a technical point of view both a real star of the dance floor, and a freak or an outcast. This often becomes an occasion for various disputes between specialists and outside observers.
How to choose your path
Without a doubt, everyone chooses for himself. The main thing is that the choice is meaningful. Here we will look at the traditional approach that is the most effective within the partner dance community.
First of all, you need to be a representative of your gender. Surprisingly, this is what eludes the majority in the first place, unexpectedly shooting at the most inopportune moment in time. A man should always be a man, including on the dance floor.
Second, we are presented as subjects of interaction. This allows you to realize the main meaning of the contact within the couple. Otherwise, the pair dance loses its essence.
And lastly, we realize ourselves as dancers.
Couple dancing is sexual in nature. An attempt to deny this fact can become a dangerous background when communicating with the opposite sex.
Whether you realize it or not.
Where is the danger?
Sexuality refers to the natural components of our being. We do not feel how the heart drives blood through our body. In the same way, our sexuality is always attuned to receive and broadcast. Society has made many rituals to avoid aggressive behavior. Especially valuable is the rule to physically stay away from each other.
But in partner dances we have direct contact with members of the opposite sex. The body reacts accordingly. The ability to accept someone else's sexuality has a psychotherapeutic effect. Denial or avoidance can lead to both increased internal conflicts and aggression from others due to inconsistent behavior.
Couple dances in the modern world have become the only place where you can legally and without serious consequences physically touch an unfamiliar member of the opposite sex. This non-obvious fact is the main driving motive for the popularity of pair dances around the world.
