10 Artists That Changed Music Genres (And Everyone Hated It)
7. The Funky Headhunter - MC Hammer
The entire concept of hip hop going pop seemed to be an extremely mixed blessing. While getting new fans for the genre is never a bad thing, having someone's first entry into the world of hip hop be someone like Vanilla Ice is a burden that no one should have to bear. Just when rap was starting to look a little more threatening with the rise of G-funk though, we got one of the single strangest switch ups when Hammer tried to be a gangsta.
Yes, you heard that correctly. The man who wore the oversized pants and danced his ass off every time he sang 2 Legit 2 Quit was now about to try his hand at becoming a gangsta rapper, and the results were almost laughable on The Funky Headhunter. Since he had already made a name for himself as a pop rapper, hearing him trying to call himself OG just feels hollow, especially when he tries to recontextualize his old songs by namechecking them in between his bars.
Even though the actual backing tracks and production are pretty decent, Hammer making diss tracks towards people like RUN-DMC and talking up his bad boy persona just brings the entire record down. It also must have been jarring to hear Hammer live around this time too, going from the sound of Pumps and a Bump and then immediately afterward having to play U Can't Touch This. Hammer may still be a legend for bringing rap to the top of the charts, but him trying to go toe to toe with the likes of Snoop Dogg was never going to work.