I can tell you exactly why MC Hammer sold so many records back in the early 90's. Yes, part of it is ladies and dancing, but even more than that is that it was *safe*. Rap was already big in urban cities, but it still hadn't broken through in most parts of the country. And a lot of rap was... not exactly family friendly. But MC Hammer wasn't going to offend anybody. People in the suburbs could say "Yeah, I'm cool enough to dig this hip-hop" without worrying about lyrics with dead cops or women with questionable morals* or words that made them uncomfortable.
*Also a feature of country music from time to time.
Miranda says that Hamilton’s desire to always be the smartest one in the room led to Miranda’s writing of polysyllabic rhymes that made his character “the son of [Big] Pun and Eminem” with lines like “I’m past patiently waitin’, I’m passionately smashin’ every expectation!”
I've never actually listened to Capital Punishment but I have it spinning right now... Holy cow!
Song Exploder has a cool episode about "Shook Ones" that's worth checking out!
Will have to check that out. The rhymes are so dense on Capital Punishment. It’s crazy
I can tell you exactly why MC Hammer sold so many records back in the early 90's. Yes, part of it is ladies and dancing, but even more than that is that it was *safe*. Rap was already big in urban cities, but it still hadn't broken through in most parts of the country. And a lot of rap was... not exactly family friendly. But MC Hammer wasn't going to offend anybody. People in the suburbs could say "Yeah, I'm cool enough to dig this hip-hop" without worrying about lyrics with dead cops or women with questionable morals* or words that made them uncomfortable.
*Also a feature of country music from time to time.
Sad that Raekwon's absolute classic is that low... but to get a first listen to Capital Punishment again, oh man.
To be fair, outside of Hammer, basically all of these were classics
You know, I can concede that point!
I haven't listened to Big Pun. I appreciate the recommendation and it reminds me that Lin-Manuel Miranda is a fan and has mentioned him a few times. For example: https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/lin-manuel-miranda-common-eminem-inspired-hamilton-8022853/
___________________________________
Miranda says that Hamilton’s desire to always be the smartest one in the room led to Miranda’s writing of polysyllabic rhymes that made his character “the son of [Big] Pun and Eminem” with lines like “I’m past patiently waitin’, I’m passionately smashin’ every expectation!”