The year was 1990, and a rapper in parachute pants used a Rick James sample to create one of the most successful hip-hop singles of all time. MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” is a 1990s musical landmark, and Hammer’s rise and fall in the years since the single’s success have been well documented.

With Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em and its follow-up, Too Legit to Quit, Hammer dominated the hip-hop music scene. He had little credibility on the streets, and critics doubted his actual talent, but Hammer’s dance skills were unrivaled, and his ability to make old-school songs relevant again was heralded. Hammer’s career eventually collapsed, but his songs are still ubiquitous, even today.

Though a comeback is not necessarily on the horizon, Hammer (nee Stanley Kirk Burrell) has been releasing music through his own digital music label, Fullblast Playhouse, and is expected to release a new album sometime this year.

In the meantime, Hammer will appear as part of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas’ Remember When Concert Series with Tone Loc and Young MC this month.

By Caitlin McGarry