Steve 'Flash' JuonI think to properly address “Feel My Power” album a little perspective about the other M.C. Hammer albums we’ve covered to date on RapReviews is in order. Let’s break it down in chronological order.
- “Let’s Get It Started,” 3 out of 10
- “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em,” 5 out of 10
- “The Funky Headhunter,” 6.5 out of 10
- “Inside Out,” 7 out of 10
I once wrote an editorial about how old Hammer records sound better in the modern era, and while I think that still holds true, looking at the scores also tells me that Stanley Burrell improved as a rapper even as his popularity declined. When he launched his rap career in the mid-1980’s his flow was slow, his delivery was stilted, and his lyrics were cornball. He rose to mainstream prominence long before he became a competent emcee thanks to his relentless hustle, clean cut image and impressive dance moves. He got his records on the radio in an era where it was very hard for rappers to break through, to the point Chuck D once opined “Radio stations I question their blackness/They call themselves “black” but we’ll see if they’ll play this.” He had a point.
Take “That’s What I Said” for example. I’m the last person in the world who is going to hate on a sample of Curtis Mayfield’s “Freddie’s Dead.” It’s one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite singers from one of my favorite movies of all time. At the same time it’s hard to like Hammer’s take on it. At the very least when you sample from an undisputed classic you should have something interesting to say, but instead Hammer takes all the social commentary of Mayfield’s original and replaces it with the most generic and banal words possible. He’s taking a loop and adding nothing to it.
“Concrete solid beats topped off with rhymes
A fly posse put together by the Hammer’s mind
Now the song is in effect and my soul is fed
And these are my words… that’s what I said”
This is easily one of the biggest nothing burgers in rap history. Unfortunately it doesn’t get any better throughout “Feel My Power.” This isn’t just early Hammer, this is the earliest Hammer. This is when Hammer had to use his connections as a bat boy for the Oakland A’s and get two players to loan him the money to start a record label. This is when he actually had to sell his tapes out of the trunk of his car and pester local stations just to play his songs on the air. If it wasn’t already clear let me say it one more time — I RESPECT THE HUSTLE. Hammer worked hard to succeed and even if songs like “Ring ‘Em” are painful to listen to now he was making chicken salad out of chicken shit by force of will alone.
There’s some historical irony to the fact that Hammer’s star had risen so high by 1990 that when the Rocky V soundtrack came out that Capitol Records recycled “That’s What I Said” and “Feel My Power” for inclusion. Consumers may have been fooled into thinking Hammer had recorded new music for the film simply because his debut record was incredibly obscure outside of California and a pre-web internet had no Discogs or Wikipedia to look up the history. Listening to the songs would quickly show you how dated they sounded in 1990. It’s incredibly ironic to hear Hammer dissing East coast rappers on “Feel My Power” when the song rips off Run-D.M.C.’s sound and style hook, line and sinker.
There’s a further irony though — “Feel My Power” was so obscure that when Hammer signed a major label deal he remixed it and repackaged it as the aforementioned “Let’s Get It Started.” Here are all of the songs that made the jump from the first to the second album in original or edited form.
- “That’s What I Said”
- “Ring ‘Em”
- “Let’s Get It Started”
- “Feel My Power”
- “The Thrill Is Gone”
- “Son of the King”
That leaves only three songs here that are unique. Would anybody miss “Mix It Toss It & Bust It” though? No. It’s a four minute instrumental with Hammer vocal samples and occasional breakdowns or scratches. It sounds like a Grandmaster Flash record from the early 80’s if it was incredibly boring.
Hammer’s heart was in the right place on “Brother Versus Brother,” but again it’s the overly simplistic raps and incredibly forced style that takes away any impact it could have had. It’s like hearing Oakland’s version of Just-Ice try to do a rap about cleaning up your act and just as bad as you can imagine an Oakland version of that would be. Actually, that’s unfair to Just-Ice. This is MUCH WORSE.
“Feel My Power” closes with the biggest irony of all, a song called “I Can Make It Better” that doesn’t improve anything. The unnamed female protagonist he duets with is probably happy her name has been left out of the history books. If going forward in time makes Hammer records sound better, going all the way back to his roots makes them worse. Please avoid this album at all costs.