Let's Get It Started is the second record by hip hopemcee M.C. Hammer. 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. 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. However, none of the singles made much of a dent in the pop charts.
Album background
Once signed to Capitol Records, Hammer re-issued his first record 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. s chastised him for being more dancer than rapper. Sitting in a leopard-printbodysuit 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." Hammer's popular rap song, "Turn This Mutha Out", samples George Clinton's "Give Up the Funk ", 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. 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. 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 ", "Let's Get It Started", "They Put Me in the Mix" 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. "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. 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. 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."
