"Pumps and a Bump" is a song by

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

from his 1994 album ''

The Funky Headhunter ''The Funky Headhunter'' is the fifth studio album by Hammer, released on March 1, 1994, via Giant Records and Reprise Records. The album at the time was hailed as Hammer's comeback album. As with some earlier songs such as "Crime Story" (from th ...

''. The single peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart and No. 26 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, making it the final

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit of Hammer's career.

Release and reception

"Pumps and a Bump" was the first single off ''The Funky Headhunter'', which represented a departure from Hammer's previous pop image. The track contains a sample of George Clinton's 1982 single "

Atomic Dog "Atomic Dog" is a song by George Clinton from his 1982 album '' Computer Games''. The track was released as a single in December 1982 and became the P-Funk collective's last to reach #1 on the U.S. R&B Chart. The single failed to chart on the ...

". The original music video featured Hammer wearing nothing but a

Speedo Speedo International Limited is a distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, England, known for its swim briefs. The company has roots in Australia but is no longer based there. Founded in Sydney in 1914 by Al ...

and dancing suggestively alongside numerous swimsuit-clad women, which resulted in it being banned from

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

as it was considered too graphic. An alternative video was filmed with Hammer fully clothed and featuring an appearance by

Deion Sanders Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American football coach and former player who is the head coach at the University of Colorado Boulder. Nicknamed "Prime Time", he played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons ...

, while promoted as representing a remix of the song. The video was nominated for Best Choreography at the

1994 MTV Video Music Awards The 1994 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 8, 1994, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1993, to June 15, 1994. The show was hosted by Roseanne Barr at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and this would be the last time ...

Impact

In 2010, ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' contestant

Larry Platt "General" Larry Platt (born August 27, 1947) is an American civil and political rights activist and rapper who gained fame with his performance of " Pants on the Ground" on the ninth season of ''American Idol''. The song was released on iTunes and ...

performed his own song titled "

Pants on the Ground "Pants on the Ground" is a novelty song, which became the first single that Civil and political rights, civil rights activism, activist "General" Larry Platt co-wrote. It was released via American King Music on February 4, 2010. The song is meant ...

", which ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' claimed sounded similar to "Pumps and a Bump". ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' magazine described the banned music video as "' Elvis on the ''Ed Sullivan Show''' cranked to 11".

Chart positions

Additional chart positions:

US R&B The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

No. 21 / US Rap No. 3 /

US Dance Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as th ...

No. 34

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{MC Hammer 1994 singles MC Hammer songs G-funk songs 1994 songs Songs written by MC Hammer Songs written by Garry Shider Songs written by George Clinton (funk musician) Giant Records (Warner) singles Music video controversies