Music
A throwback to MC Hammer’s 1994 album ‘The Funky Headhunter’ 30 years later
MC Hammer was something that actually needed to be experienced in real time. It’s hard to explain to young individuals who have not heard of him, but MC Hammer (born Stanley Burrell) in Oakland, California was truly crucial thing in hip-hop within the late Nineteen Eighties. He wasn’t as big as Michael Jackson – who was? — but tell me, Bobby Brown? Bright. Bobby Brown was HUGE within the late 80’s, but you realize who had a Saturday morning cartoon on a significant network? MC hammer. “Blacksmith” it might not have been successful, however it existed.
You know what else was huge back then? Especially The Simpsons and Bart Simpson. It was common to see people wearing Bart Simpson T-shirts and doing all the things from skateboarding to dressing like Michael Jackson. Remember that Bart Simpson T-shirt I had? I had the one where Bart Simpson was saying “U Can’t Touch This,” the hook from MC Hammer’s most ubiquitous song, “U Can’t Touch This.” Everyone from 1990 to the fucking mid-90s said, “You can’t touch that” as a joke and a nod to MC Hammer. How big of a deal was MC Hammer back then? His Nineteen Nineties album Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em is continues to be considered one of the best-selling albums within the history of hip-hop.
I mean, MC Hammer was a thing. In 1990, when Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em was released, I used to be 11 years old, and well, anything exciting was completely fascinating to an 11-year-old. Plus he rapped, danced and looked great. I had Hammer pants because all of us wore them. When he released his 1991 album “2 Legit 2 Quit” (he also dropped the “MC” from his nickname), he was still the good guy on the planet. Although it wasn’t as popular because the previous album, “2 Legit…” spawned the only “2 Legit 2 Quit” and made everyone try this funny hand motion. Although Hammer was an excellent street dude whose street cred ran very deep in every circle, his musical management aimed to each raise popularity and sell records at the identical time, and he was very, very successful in doing so.
And then all the things modified. In December 1992, Dr. Dre released the album “The Chronic” which modified, well, all the things in hip-hop. Dre. Dre and Death Row Records moved the middle of the hip-hop universe from New York to Los Angeles, and the sound modified music and the music business for the following 4 years. Although Hammer was a household name within the pop world, hip-hop had modified, and the identical cool Hammer represented by Hammer faded because the gangsta rap version of Dr. Dre – the follow-up to NWA and Ice Cube’s West Coast hip-hop brand – gained a national following. It didn’t help that Hammer took several years off to pursue such business development groups Oaktown 3.5.7. So when Hammer decided to release an album in 1994, he checked out the musical landscape and decided to go along to get along. This decision resulted in the discharge of the album “The Funky Headhunter” on March 1, 1994, which sounded way more influenced by Dr.’s g-funk sound. Dre than Hammer ever thought he could be. The only caveat is that Hammer was no stranger to Death Row (he eventually signed a contract with the label briefly on the behest of his good friend Tupac). Hammer was friends with Suge Knight for a lot of years before Death Row was founded. But Hammer’s sound and approach were nothing like Death Row’s sound or approach. Hammer’s sound was more unified, faster and uplifting.
Sure, Hammer all the time talked about rappers not wanting to see any a part of his success, but Hammer was pop through and thru. And that wasn’t a nasty thing; Hammer was hip-hop the entire family could listen to. Until he wasn’t and wasn’t at the identical time.
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“The Funky Headhunter” is not a excellent album. The beats are okay, but all of them feel like they’re missing something and kind of highlight Hammer’s limitations as a rapper; when the beat is danceable and Hammer gives you an anthem to recite, you do not really care concerning the remainder of the lyrics. When this is not the case, the songs don’t sound nearly as good. Besides, the irritated Hammer felt…uncomfortable. Throughout the album it felt like he was trying too hard to be (which can prove to be accurate) someone aside from the Hammer all of us knew and loved. Perhaps it would not matter; when “The Funky Headhunter” was released, I used to be 15 years old and completely entrenched within the West Coast sound and aesthetic. If it didn’t sound “real”, I didn’t entertain it, irrespective of what coast it got here from, especially if it got here from the West. And Hammer, due to his previous work, didn’t come across as a man who rapped over beats and talked about what he was talking about. It just seemed forced.
And then there it was “Pumps and the tumor”. Hammer’s first single from the album (looking back, it is also the very best album on the album) was accompanied by a music video featuring Hammer in a leopard-print speedo and girls in bikinis from a time when it was scandalous and sexually suggestive, a far cry from anything that ever heard. Video screenings even banned the unique video due to Hammer in its speedometer, which forced the rapper to reshoot a “purer” version of the film. I like this song more now than I did then, although I’ll admit that without the music video to develop into a talking point, I feel the song would just be one other head-scratching song on an already head-scratching album. At least “Pumps and a Bump,” an ode to butts and good footwear, was entertaining.
I feel most individuals were a bit confused about Hammer’s purpose with this album – why would a rapper known for making music that included songs like “Pray,” “Do Not Pass Me By” and “Have You Seen Her?” start trying to sound like a Death Row rapper? Kurupt and Daz Tha Dogg Pounda it even appeared on the album. Fifteen-year-old me was confused and located it easy to move on from Hammer, especially when Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and Warren G. were available.
Looking back, the album wasn’t even terrible, not by 1994 standards. It’s not great, and I’m sure even Hammer would have done some things in another way, but the way in which it modified all the narrative about Hammer and made him almost obsolete seems a bit unfair. However, music consumers are fickle, and there have been few artists whose sonic and aesthetic changes have been well received by fans. Hammer scored one other 180 with 1995’s Inside Out, which took him back to the sound all of us knew and had more gospel-sounding records.
But by then, Hammer’s experiment was largely over. He was more famous for his financial problems; Hammer amassed an enormous fortune estimated at over $30 million a 12 months, but he had to declare bankruptcy in 1996 due to huge debt to tons of of debtors.
At this point, most individuals who remember Hammer reduce much of his rap profession to some joke, but that is completely unfair. With the exception of essentially the most ardent hip-hop purists and rappers, the remaining of us loved Hammer and apparently all of us got his albums and songs. As with lots of our breakout artists of the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s whose downfalls were public and swift, the punchlines overtook the absolutely cometary nature of their music and profession. Let me inform you what, while The Funky Headhunter is not an album I return to often, all of Hammer’s best hits are filled with culinary snacks, which is a legacy in itself.
And we’ll all the time have Pumps and Bumps that can endlessly be too legitimate to quit.
Music
Kendrick Lamar tops Apple Music song charts in 2024 and women are making history
NEW YORK (AP) — “Not Like Us” but people sure like him: Kendrick Lamar Smash topped Apple Music’s global song chart in 2024 as a large music streamer published year-end lists Tuesday and provided listeners with data on their most listened to songs.
“Not Like Us” is Lamar’s first-ever song to succeed in primary on the worldwide year-end charts.
In second place is “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” is third, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is fourth, and Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” is fifth.
“Cruel Summer” is, in fact, a fraction of Swift’s seventh studio album “Lover”, released in 2019. revival in summer 2023
Of the 100 songs on the chart, 39 are songs by female-identifying artists, which is the primary record in the worldwide chart’s seven-year history.
And this may occasionally come as a surprise: Japanese hip-hop band Creepy Nuts’ breakthrough song “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” topped Apple’s most read lyrics in 2024. Other Creepy Nuts songs include “Not Like Us”, “Espresso” and “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish.
“Bling-Bang-Band-Born” also topped the Apple Music song chart, which allows users to see which songs fans sang along to probably the most. It is obvious that Japanese music is becoming more and more popular internationally: in 2023 one other Japanese group, YOASOBI, topped the Sing charts in its inaugural yr, with “Idol”. “Idol” continues to dominate this yr, peaking at #2.
New to the 2024 year-end charts set is the addition of the Shazam Global Radio Spins chart, which uses Shazam to see what songs are being played on radio stations world wide. “Houdini” by Dua Lipa Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” and Tate McRae’s “Greedy” top the list.
Also available Tuesday might be Replay — Apple’s alternative to Spotify’s Wrapped playlist — which allows Apple Music subscribers to experience the most well-liked music on the streaming service this yr. Artists can now also share their year-end data using Apple Music for Artists.
In November, Apple Music named Eilish Female Artist of the Year, following her hugely successful 2024. This yr, Eilish became the youngest person to ever win the award two Academy Awards, and released her critically acclaimed third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, which gained popularity seven 2025 Grammy Awards nominations. At this yr’s awards ceremony, she accepted two latest record player-shaped trophies – despite the fact that she hasn’t released a brand new album – each for “What Was I Made For?” With hit movie “Barbie”.
“It’s always special when a young artist can connect with so many people so quickly,” Rachel Newman, senior director of content and editorial at Apple Music, said in an announcement. “But what has been truly remarkable about watching her evolve over the past yr will not be only that her voice and artistry proceed to resonate so widely. The point is that she blossomed as bravely and truthfully as she did – on her own terms and in her own way.
Music
Kendrick Lamar and SZA embark on their ‘Grand National’ tour across North America, including Toronto. MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!
We all knew this was coming. Kendrick Lamar dropped his latest album “GNX” on the Friday before Thanksgiving and people were screaming “MUSTAAAAAAAAAARD” over Kendrick’s hilarious shouting of DJ Mustard’s name on the song “tv off.” This appears to be the case for DJ Mustard, who recently wrote that he I shouted as I walked down the road forgetting that he was referring to himself. Good times.
Anyway, because Kendrick is the variety of artist who abandons a project and then continues an enormous tour to support heron Tuesday, December 3, 2024, his press team spammed all of our inboxes with a press release announcing that Kendrick and SZA were embarking on the “Grand National Tour,” a 19-city stadium tour crisscrossing North America. Makes sense. The show covers most major cities within the United States – the New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Washington, DC, Vegas, Philadelphia, etc. – and one fun little performance on June 12, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This guy.
If you’ve got literally been living under a rock or spent 12 months recording “Naked & Afraid” or something, you realize that Kendrick Lamar and one in all Canada’s biggest exports, Drake, were embroiled in a tiff that included criminal charges, legal motion, bops, and an absolute song 2024’s ‘Not Like Us’ where Kendrick Lamar beat Draked Drake in every way possible. Drake is, in fact, from Toronto. Considering that Kendrick and Drake haven’t only repeatedly attacked one another lyrically over the past nine months, but their teams, supporters, and fans have also taken sides, performing together in their respective cities really didn’t seem to be a no brainer. that may occur. At least not now. Drake continues to be Drake, although his luster has been greatly enhanced (some due to Kendrick, others since the claims of the colonizers are beginning to look more accurate than we would love, no matter what “business” dictates), so in fact when he decides to set out tour to support whatever he’s doing, he’ll Los Angeles.
I feel the identical might be said about Kendrick. Should he NOT go to Toronto because he’s arguing with Jimmy within the wheelchair? I assume that is silly. Plus, Kendrick told us he really loves New Ho King, a restaurant in Toronto. Shouldn’t he go for fried rice and dipping sauce? Of course I did, especially after it went away claimed that Drake shut down TDE artist SiR’s performance at a location in Toronto.
I hope everyone has their popcorn ready because that is just diabolical. Like, honey, after you go to the Super Bowl and perform “Not Like Us” (that is gonna be wiiiiiiiild) for hundreds of thousands of individuals, are you going to do the identical thing at Drake Stadium? I do not even know what to say here. If Kendrick ever desired to make an announcement, performing “Not Like Us” in Toronto to a sold-out arena that screamed “A-minoooooooor” in unison and then screamed “MUSSSSTAAAAAAAAAARD” could be the stuff of legend.
I ponder who comes up with these schedules and locations. I assume LiveNation gave Kendrick a listing of places and he replied, “Yes, Toronto.” Now that I give it some thought, I’m really surprised he won’t stop in Toronto on June 16, which is Tupac’s birthday, considering what a distinguished (and weird) role Tupac played in all this. It almost looks as if an oversight on Kendrick’s part – either that or the room was booked that day.
Who knows what’s going to occur? It’s doubtful, but perhaps between now and the beginning of Kendrick’s tour, Kendrick and Drake will sit down with Farrakhan (or anyone this generation holds in high regard) and squash the meat and we’ll never hear “Not Like Us.” have performed again, with Kendrick safely traversing Canadian soil while Drake has been digging within the bag and actually releasing an album that shows some growth – or a minimum of real ambition. Once again, I doubt this can occur, so I’ll just patiently wait until June 12, 2025 is circled on my calendar.
BLACKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Music
It’s almost time for Spotify Wrapped. When can you expect the 2024 summary?
NEW YORK (AP) – It’s almost that time of yr: Spotify is preparing to release an annual, personalized summary of users’ listening habits and the yr in the audio industry.
Spotify has been providing its listeners with data sheets since 2016. Year by yr it becomes an increasingly larger production and Internet sensation. Spotify said his yr 2023 is closed was “the largest ever created” by way of audience reach and sort of data provided.
So what is going to 2024 bring? Here’s what you have to know ahead of this yr’s edition of Spotify Wrapped.
What exactly is Spotify Wraped?
It’s an annual have a look at individual listening trends, in addition to trends around the world on the streaming service. Users discover their top artists, songs, genres, albums and podcasts, multi functional interactive presentation.
The campaign has turn into a social media sensation as people share and compare their Wrapped data with their friends and followers online.
Previous versions gave users all types of charts and facts, including whether or not they were amongst an artist’s hottest listeners, in addition to a personalised playlist of the yr’s 100 hottest songs that they may save, share, and take heed to each time they wanted. nostalgic.
Spotify also creates a series of playlists that reflect national and global listening trends, featuring the hottest artists and songs streamed. In 2023 Taylor Swift was the most streamed artist on Spotifyunseating Bad Bunny, who had held the title for three years in a row.
Every yr holds something latest. In 2019, Wrapped featured a decade-long summary of user trends in streaming. Last yr, Spotify matched listeners to City of Sound based on their artistic interests and the way this overlaps with those of artists from other parts of the world.
When is the expected release date?
So far, the streaming platform has kept the long-awaited release date of Wrapped under… hmm, under wraps.
In previous years, it was published after Thanksgiving, between November 30 and December 6.
Every yr, rumors spread on social media about when Spotify will stop collecting data to organize its summary results. This yr was no exception. Spotify He quickly debunked these assumptionsasserting on social media that “Spotify Wrapped doesn’t stop counting on October 31st.”
A Spotify representative didn’t reply to a request for comment on when the company will stop data tracking for Wrapped.
Where can I find my Spotify Wrapped?
Once Wrapped is released, each user’s Spotify account will prompt them to view an interactive data summary. It can be accessed through the Spotify smartphone app or via by logging in to Spotify. Wrapped is out there to users with and and not using a Premium subscription.
What else can I learn from my Spotify data?
There are several third-party sites you can connect your Spotify account to that can analyze your Wrapped data.
How bad is your Spotify is an AI bot that assesses your music taste. Reception shares the best songs in a shared graphic that appears like a receipt. Instafest gives you your individual personal music festival-style lineup, powered by your best artists. What sort of NPRCore are you rates how similar your music taste is to NPR Music.
What if I haven’t got Spotify?
Other major streaming platforms like Apple Music and YouTube Music have developed their very own versions of Wrapped in recent times.
Apple Music Replay not only gives its subscribers an end-of-year summary of their listening habits, but additionally monthly summaries – a feature that helps differentiate itself from Spotify’s one-time summary. This is issued at the end of the calendar yr.
Meanwhile, YouTube Music offers its listeners similar year-end releases, in addition to periodic seasonal releases throughout the yr. Earlier this month, it published its annual summary for users.
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