Let's Get It Started (album)

Let's Get It Started is the second studio album and major-label studio album debut by hip hop artist M.C. Hammer, released on September 28, 1988 by Capitol Records and EMI Records. The album went double platinum with "Pump It Up", "Let's Get It Started", "Turn This Mutha Out" and "They Put Me in the Mix" as the most popular tracks from this album. Music videos were also produced for all of these songs. The album topped the R&B charts and peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard 200. It was No. 1 on the US R&B charts.

Let's Get It Started
Studio album by
M.C. Hammer
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1988 (1988-09-28)
Recorded1987–1988
GenreGolden age hip hop
Length42:33
Label
M.C. Hammer chronology
Feel My Power
(1986)		 Let's Get It Started
(1988)		 Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
(1990)
Singles from Let's Get It Started
  1. "Let's Get It Started"
    Released: 1988
  2. "Pump It Up"
    Released: 1988
  3. "Turn This Mutha Out"
    Released: 1989
  4. "They Put Me In The Mix"
    Released: 1989
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
RapReviews(3/10)[2]
Robert ChristgauC+[3]

The album produced Top-5 rap single hits. "Turn This Mutha Out" peaked the highest at No. 3 on the US Rap charts and also cracked the Top-15 on both the Dance and R&B charts (No. 12). However, none of the singles made much of a dent in the pop charts.[4]

Album background

Once signed to Capitol Records, Hammer re-issued his first record (a revised version of Feel My Power) with additional tracks added and sold over 2 million copies. Recorded between 1987–1988, it was released on September 28, 1988. "Pump It Up", "Turn This Mutha Out", "Let's Get It Started" and "They Put Me in the Mix" were released as singles from this album which all charted.

But not quite satisfied with this first multi-platinum success, Hammer's music underwent a metamorphosis, shifting from the standard rap format in his upcoming album. "I decided the next album would be more musical," he says. Purists chastised him for being more dancer than rapper. Sitting in a leopard-print bodysuit before a concert, he defended his style: "People were ready for something different from the traditional rap style. The fact that the record has reached this level indicates the genre is growing."[5]

Hammer's popular rap song, "Turn This Mutha Out", samples George Clinton's "Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)", as well as the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache".

Impact and legacy

The rap single "Turn This Mutha Out" peaked at No. 3 on the US Rap charts and cracked the Top-15 on both the Dance and R&B charts (No. 12). Allmusic It was also nominated for a MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video in 1989.M.C. Hammer was very good friends with Arsenio Hall and therefore was invited to perform on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1989 prior to the release of Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em.[6] With the success of that album, Feel My Power and Let's Get It Started received more attention.

Music videos were produced for "Ring 'Em/Pump It Up (Here's The News)", "Let's Get It Started", "They Put Me in the Mix" (later remixed) and "Turn This Mutha Out". Hammer used some of the proceeds from this album to install a rolling recording studio in the back of his tour bus, where he recorded much of his second album.[7] "Turn This Mutha Out" is also featured on the MTV Party to Go 1 album. Hammer performed "Pump it Up" during Showtime at the Apollo on September 16, 1989.[8]

In January 1990, Hammer won two American Music Awards for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist and Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album and was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Album (Let's Get It Started).

The single "Let's Get it Started" also became the record that began the now-legendary rivalry between Hammer and LL Cool J. In the song's lyrics, Hammer braggadociously stated that he is second to none, in comparison to other rappers: "And when it comes to straight up rockin’ / I’m second to none / from Doug E. Fresh to LL or DJ Run.” LL Cool J would respond with "To da Break of Dawn," and revisit the rivalry years later with "I Shot Ya (remix)."[9][10]

Track listing
  1. "Intro: Turn This Mutha Out" (Explicit) 2:38
  2. "Let's Get It Started (Radio Edit)" 4:08
  3. "Ring 'Em" 4:20
  4. "Cold Go MC Hammer" 4:05
  5. "You're Being Served" 4:45
  6. "It's Gone (Edit)" 3:56
  7. "(Hammer Hammer) They Put Me in the Mix (Edit)" 3:28
  8. "Son of the King" 3:53
  9. "That's What I Said" 3:38
  10. "Feel My Power" 3:07
  11. "Pump It Up (Here's the News) (Radio Edit)" 4:35

Length: 42:33

Samples used

"Let's Get It Started"

"Pump It Up"

"Turn This Mutha Out"

"They Put Me in the Mix"

See also

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[12] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[13] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Allmusic review
  2. RapReviews review
  3. Robert Christgau review
  4. Charts and Awards at Allmusic
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20071212205304/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n2_v46/ai_9177118
  6. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-ZIB4GB8Olss/mc_hammer_u_cant_touch_this_live_arsenio_hall
  7. http://www.answers.com/topic/mc-hammer-1
  8. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0612962
  9. "LL Cool J's Official Instagram". www.instagram.com. That’s my man, and I love him. I think he just said my name [plus Run-DMC’s and Doug E. Fresh’s] in a record for attention. He did what he had to do. He came out and sold a lot of records and did his thing. But I never had any problems, personally, with Hammer. I lit him up ‘cause that’s what I was supposed to do. But I never had any problems with him at all. In terms of battles, I’ve had so many battles. So many artists have come at me from different directions and it just comes with the territory. That’s the fun part.
  10. Camille Augustin (November 13, 2018). "Over Thirty Years Later, LL Cool J Speaks On Rift With MC Hammer". www.vibe.com.
  11. Let's Get It Started atAllmusic
  12. "Japanese album certifications – Hammer – Let's Get It Started" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved October 22, 2019. Select 1991年7月 on the drop-down menu
  13. "American album certifications – Hammer – Let's Get It Started". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 22, 2019. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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