Too Legit to Quit


Too Legit to Quit is Hammer's fourth record, released on October 29, 1991 by Capitol Records. The album, also produced by Felton Pilate, has been certified silver in the UK by the BPI and triple platinum in the US by the RIAA.
After dropping the "M.C." from his stage name, Hammer released Too Legit to Quit which answered critics within certain songs from the album.

Promotion and reception

Hammer set out on a world tour for Too Legit to Quit, but the stage show had become as lavish as his lifestyle. Loaded with singers, dancers and backup musicians, the supporting concert tour was too expensive for the album's sales to finance so it was canceled partway through. In 1992, Boyz II Men joined Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit Tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song would help advance their success. Other opening acts for the tour included Jodeci and Mary J. Blige.
"2 Legit 2 Quit" proved to be successful in the U.S., peaking at the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 5. Another hit came soon after with "Addams Groove", reaching No. 7 in the U.S. and No. 4 in the UK. Despite the album's multi-platinum certification, the sales were one-third of Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em.
Prior to Hammer's next album, The Funky Headhunter, rumors from critics and fans began claiming Hammer had quit the music/entertainment business and had suffered a financial downfall, which Hammer denied at the time. The introduction of the extended-play music video for "2 Legit 2 Quit" addressed the fact that Hammer must have quit until Hammer shows up late to a concert dancing and rapping to the hit song.

Music videos

Music videos were produced for all four charting singles released. The music video for "Addams Groove" appeared before The Addams Family film.
The music video for "2 Legit 2 Quit" included many celebrity appearances. It was ranked one of the most expensive videos ever produced. The hand gestures used within the video became very popular as was the catchphrase itself. At the end of the video, after James Brown enlists Hammer to obtain the glove of Michael Jackson, a silver-white sequined glove is shown on the hand of a Jackson look-alike doing the "2 Legit 2 Quit" hand motions. It was a reference to Hammer wanting to challenge Jackson to a dance-off for rights to his famous glove, which is also referenced on the album.
Andy Samberg's character in the film Hot Rod pays tribute to Hammer's hand gestures from the music video with his explanation of no longer being "legit" so he must quit.
Hammer appeared on The Wendy Williams Show on July 27, 2009 and told a story about a phone call he received from Michael Jackson, regarding the portion of the "2 Legit 2 Quit" video that included a fake Jackson, giving his approval and inclusion of it. He explained how Jackson had seen the video and liked it, and both expressed they were a fan of each other. Hammer and Jackson would later appear, speak and perform at the funeral service for James Brown in 2006.
A compilation of music videos from this album were released on VHS and DVD called M.C. Hammer: 2 Legit - The Videos.

Track listing

The cassette tape version of this album is considerably longer, with the addition of four songs. After "Find Yourself a Friend" there follows "Rollin' On ". After "Gaining Momentum" is "Burn It Up". The last two songs on the album are then "Addams Groove" and "Street Soldiers ". The total run time is 1:29:00.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications