The month of June is officially Black Music Month.

For decades, African Americans have dominated the musical space influencing our country’s culture and values. Ranging from Hip-Hop to Rag Time we’ve seasoned the soul of America.

BMM is a fairly new concept that should not be confused with February’s Black history. This month, we will honor Black music pioneers such as James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry, and countless other greats that helped shape the music we listen to today.

Today, we honor a man that is best known for his hits like “Can’t Touch This,” and “Too Legit to Quit.”

MC Hammer wasn’t always set on becoming a musician. In fact, his name had nothing to do with music. Before the flashy dance movies and the parachute “Hammer pants” Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30 1962), was on his way to being a professional baseball player. Baseball legend Reggie Jackson gave him the name “Little Hammer” because resembled world record batting champion Hank Aaron in the batting cages.

MC Hammer started his career in Gospel music, but once he signed to Death Row records, he began to explore other genres of music. As his career catapulted into fame, his superstar status led to over 50 million records sold worldwide. His showmanship and his electric energy onstage would make him into the hip hop icon he is today.

Unfortunately, with success comes haters. His giant influence in pop culture led many fans into calling him a sellout from the belief that he was too “commercial” for hip hop, which was growing grittier over the years. Eventually, Hammer would follow the hardcore, gritty trend. But in the end, the look didn’t really pan out for him.

Just like he earned his fortune at lightning speed, he lost it all at almost the same pace. In just a few short years after reaching massive success, Hammer burned through an entire 30 million dollar fortune and had to claim bankruptcy. From there, he returned to the church and became a preacher in the 90’s.

But not all is not lost for the hip hop icon. Today, he is a world-reknown social media expert with millions of Twitter fans. And most importantly, he is considered one of the greatest dancers of all time.

Source: thereelnetwork.com

Date Posted: Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015 , Total Page Views: 1238