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''Let's Get It Started'' is the second
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
, and first major-label debut, by American rapper
MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...
. It was released via
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
and
EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...
on September 28, 1988. The album was produced by Hammer and Felton Pilate. Recorded between 1987 and 1988, ''Let's Get It Started'' received mixed to negative reviews upon its release, but has since gone on to be praised as a hip-hop classic. The album was supported by the released of four official singles: "Pump It Up", "Let's Get It Started", "Turn This Mutha Out" and "They Put Me in the Mix" which all charted.
Music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s were also produced for all of these songs. Also, it won two
American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
for ''Let's Get It Started'': Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album. It was also nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Album. ''Let's Get It Started'' peaked at No. 30 on the ''Billboard'' 200 went
double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...
by RIAA for selling over two million of copies. It was No. 1 on the Top R&B chart in the U.S. The album produced several Top 5 hits. "Turn This Mutha Out" peaked the highest at No. 3 on the US Rap charts, and also cracked the Top 15 at No. 12 on both the
Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and R&B charts. However, none of the singles made much of a dent in the pop charts.


Background

In 1986, M.C. Hammer single was "Ring 'Em," recorded in his basement, privately pressed and distributed from the trunk of his car. The funding came in two parts. Former A's player Mike Davis was looking to make an investment and backed the initial pressing with a $20,000 loan; when Hammer experienced the cash-flow problems endemic to independent entrepreneurs, he got a $20,000 boost from Dwayne Murphy, who had already heard the song on Oakland radio. ''Hammer'''s self-produced "Feel My Power" album sold 50,000 copies before Capitol Records brought him into the majors and recycled seven of its songs for his next studio album. Following the success of the album, Capitol offered him a $10 million distribution deal to Hammer. Following that, Hammer re-issued his first record (a revised version of '' Feel My Power'') with additional tracks added and sold over 2 million copies. Recorded between 1987 and 1988, it was released on September 28, 1988. "Pump It Up", "Turn This Mutha Out", "Let's Get It Started" and "They Put Me in the Mix" were released as singles from the album, which all charted. "Turn This Mutha Out" samples George Clinton's " Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)", as well as the
Incredible Bongo Band The Incredible Bongo Band, also known as Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band, was a project started in 1972 by Michael Viner, a record artist manager and executive at MGM Records, producer, MGM Records executive and Curb Records founder Mike Cu ...
's "Apache".


Commercial reception

''Let's Get It Started'' peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard 200. It was certified two times platinum by the RIAA for selling over two million copies in the United States. It also topped the US Top R&B albums chart and was the third best performance album of 1989. It reached the Top 50 Australia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and United Kingdom as well as being certified Gold in Japan for selling over 100,000 copies. The popular "Turn This Mutha Out" peaked at No. 3 on the US Rap charts and cracked the Top 15 at No. 12 on both the Dance Club and R&B/Hip-Hop charts. In 1989, the song was nominated for a
MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video was first given out in 1989, and it was one of the four original genre categories added at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards. This award was last given out in 2006, as MTV did not bring it back in 2008 lik ...
. M.C. Hammer was good friends with
Arsenio Hall Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted a late-night talk show, '' The Arsenio Hall Show'', from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014. He has appeared in ''Martial Law'', '' Comi ...
, and therefore was invited to perform on ''
The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989 ...
'' in 1989, prior to the release of ''
Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em ''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' is the third studio album by American rapper MC Hammer, released on February 12, 1990 by Capitol Records and EMI Records. Produced, recorded and mixed by Felton Pilate and James Earley, the album was made on a s ...
''. With the success of that album, '' Feel My Power'' and ''Let's Get It Started'' received more attention.
Music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s were produced for "Ring 'Em/Pump It Up (Here's the News)", "Let's Get It Started", "They Put Me in the Mix" (later remixed) and "Turn This Mutha Out". Hammer used some of the proceeds from this album to install a rolling recording studio in the back of his tour bus, where he recorded much of his second album. "Turn This Mutha Out" is also featured on the '' MTV Party to Go 1'' album. Hammer performed "Pump it Up" during ''
Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987, to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harve ...
'' on September 16, 1989. In January
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
, Hammer won two
American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
for ''Let's Get It Started'': Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album. It was also nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Album. The single "Let's Get it Started" became the record that began the now-legendary rivalry between Hammer and
LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...
. In the song's lyrics, Hammer braggadociously stated that he is second to none, in comparison to other rappers: "And when it comes to straight up rockin’ / I’m second to none / from Doug E. Fresh to LL or DJ Run." LL Cool J would later respond with " To da Break of Dawn", and revisit the rivalry years later with " I Shot Ya (remix)".


Track listing

# "Intro: Turn This Mutha Out" (Explicit) 2:38 # "Let's Get It Started (Radio Edit)" 4:08 # "Ring 'Em" 4:20 # "Cold Go MC Hammer" 4:05 # "You're Being Served" 4:45 # "It's Gone (Edit)" 3:56 # "(Hammer Hammer) They Put Me in the Mix (Edit)" 3:28 # "Son of the King" 3:53 # "That's What I Said" 3:38 # "Feel My Power" 3:07 # "Pump It Up (Here's the News) (Radio Edit)" 4:35 Length: 42:33


Samples used

"Let's Get It Started" * " Change The Beat" by
Fab Five Freddy Fred Brathwaite (born August 31, 1959), more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown ...
* "
Another One Bites the Dust "Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British Rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album ''The Game (Queen album), The Game'' (1980). It was a worl ...
" by
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
* " Rock Box" by
Run-DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the mos ...
* "
Rock The Bells Rock the Bells is an annual hip-hop festival that originally took place in Southern California only, but has since toured throughout the world. The concert features a line-up of high-profile alternative hip-hop artists, often headlined by a mo ...
" by
LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...
* " Give It to Me Baby" by
Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...
"Pump It Up" * "The Champ" by the Mohawks * "
Hot Pants Hotpants or hot pants are extremely short shorts. The term was first used by ''Women's Wear Daily'' in 1970 to describe shorts made in luxury fabrics such as velvet and satin for fashionable wear, rather than their more practical equivalents t ...
" by
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
* "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" by
Hashim Hashim () is a common male Arabic given name. Notable people with the name include: *Hashim ibn Abd Manaf * Hashim Amir Ali * Hashim Shah * Hashim Amla * Hashim Thaçi * Hashim Khan * Hashim Qureshi * Mir Hashim Ali Khan *Hashim al-Atassi * Hashi ...
* "The Big Beat" by
Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include " The Stroke", " Lonely Is the Night", " My Kinda Love ...
"Turn This Mutha Out" * "
Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
" by
Incredible Bongo Band The Incredible Bongo Band, also known as Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band, was a project started in 1972 by Michael Viner, a record artist manager and executive at MGM Records, producer, MGM Records executive and Curb Records founder Mike Cu ...
* " Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)" by
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.''Let's Get It Started'' at
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
/ref> * "Rocket in the Pocket (live)" by
Cerrone Marc CerroneDaryl Easlea, "Supernature Boy", ''Record Collector'', #502, February 2020, pp.60-63 (; born 24 May 1952) is a French disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of concerts. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980s disco s ...
"They Put Me in the Mix" *"
Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" is a funk song recorded by James Brown with Bobby Byrd on backing vocals. Released as a two-part single in 1970, it was a no. 2 R&B hit and reached no. 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2004, "Sex ...
" by James Brown *" Change the Beat" by Fab 5 Freddy *"D'Ya Like Scratchin'?" by
Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and ...
and
World's Famous Supreme Team The World's Famous Supreme Team was an American hip hop radio show duo and recording group active from 1979 to 1991. The original members were Sedivine the Mastermind (Larry Price) and Just Allah the Superstar (Ronald Larkins Jr.). Career The g ...
*"Housequake" by
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...


See also

* List of number-one R&B albums of 1989 (U.S.)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{Authority control 1988 albums MC Hammer albums Capitol Records albums EMI Records albums