U Can’t Touch This: 3 Eternal Songs from Groundbreaking Rapper MC Hammer

In the 1980s and ’90s, the Oakland, California-born MC Hammer wasn’t so much as a songwriter and performer as he was a lifestyle. Between his ubiquitous songs, style, and big parachute pants, MC Hammer was one of those individuals people dressed up as for Halloween. He was recognizable in silhouette just as he was on stage.

But along with his pop culture influence, the rapper (born Stanley Kirk Burrell) released several songs that have since stood the test of time. And here below we wanted to explore three of those songs. A trio of tunes that are as bombastic as they are catchy. Indeed, these are three eternal songs from the groundbreaking rapper MC Hammer.

[RELATED: 3 Classic Hip-Hop Songs that Have Roots in Traditional Music]

“2 Legit 2 Quit” from Too Legit to Quit (1991)

This song, which hit No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, is about having so much talent, skill, and resonance it makes it impossible to put the art form down. And in the late 1980s and early ’90s, that was most assuredly the case for MC Hammer, who seemed to have the world in the palm of his hand. With his deep voice, dazzling dance moves, and rapping style that was one part street smart and one part Broadway musical, the artist was the talk of the music world. And on this song, he highlights that reality offering,

Too legit… Too legit to quit [x3]
Sweat running all over my chest (chest) I don’t quit no!
I just press harder (Yea!) than I ever did before going for
The dreams that I have in store in my mind (mind) and I know
That i’m makin it I gotta get mine and nobody’s takin it away
(No!) cause hammer don’t play that you try to get mine
boy you better step back freeze (freeze) cause
You don’t want none I hustle for my muscle and you look
Weak son (real weak) yea!… i’m goin for all that I can get
Kickin at the top cause i’m too legit to quit…sing!

“U Can’t Touch This” from Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em (1990)

The song that remains MC Hammer’s most famous. Not only was this track, which hit No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the artist several Grammy Awards, on everyone’s lips, but the dance moves in the music video were all the rage, too, spawning many living room dance parties and parachute pants purchases. Another song that highlights the artist’s prowess and his singularity, this offering has Hammer rapping,

You can’t touch this
You can’t touch this
You can’t touch this
You can’t touch this

My, my, my, my
(You can’t touch this)
Music hits me so hard
Makes me say “Oh, my Lord
Thank you for blessing me
With a mind to rhyme and two hyped feet”

It feels good when you know you’re down
A super dope homeboy from the Oaktown
And I’m known as such
And this is a beat, uh, you can’t touch

“Addams Groove” from Too Legit to Quit (1991)

When the spooky family known as The Addams Family were set for their big movie debut in 1991, it was MC Hammer who was tapped to do the theme song and, well, he knocked it out of the part. His refrain about how the clan does whatever they want was singed into the minds of moviegoers and music fans all across the land. The tune, which hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, showcases Hammer’s humor and flow, and on it he raps,

They do what they want to do, say what they want to say
Live how they want to live, play how they want to play
Dance how they want to dance, kick and the slap a friend
The Addams family

Now I was cold coolin’, you know (maxin’ and relaxin’)
Just kickin’ it around the house (Oaktown kicking’ it)
When a knock, a knock, a knock and a voice yo!
Can hammer come out? (what’s up?)
Now I don’t mind (mind) being a friend
And showin’ a little bit of flava (flava)
But Wednesday, Pugsley, Gomez, Fester (oh man)
Man, them some strange neighbors

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Photo by Leon Bennett/WireImage