The song samples the prominent opening riff of the Rick James song "Super Freak", which is repeated throughout the recording. The lyrics describe Hammer as having "toured around the world, from London to The Bay" and as being "magic on the mic", which he says coincides with James's "beat that you can't touch". Additionally, the lyrics "you can't touch this" and "Stop! Hammer time!" became pop culturecatchphrases. Hammertime was later used as the title of a reality show starring Hammer on A&E during the summer of 2009.[4]
The sample of "Super Freak", which forms the basis of the song, led James (and other performers on the original record) to file a lawsuit for copyright infringement, which was settled out of court, with Hammer agreeing to credit James as a songwriter, effectively granting him millions of dollars in royalties.
Bill Coleman from Billboard commented, "A Rick James classic paired with Hammer's distinctive rhyme styling has added up to a deserved smash."[9] Whitney Pastorek from Entertainment Weekly wrote, "The good-natured boast, laid over the hook of Rick James' 'Superfreak', proved irresistible. Hammer's hydraulic dance moves and outlandish fashions — harem pants and gold lamé, together at last! — were cartoonish".[10] Ben Thompson from NME said, "Currently more popular than sliced bread in the US of A, MC Hammer updates one of the more favoured moments of the dreadful Rick James in a barrage of twiddly synths. The debt that Swingbeat owes to Landscape's 'Einstein a Go-Go' has yet to be fully investigated."[11]
Impact and legacy
In 1999, MTV's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made included the song at number 71. In October 2000, VH1's 100 Greatest Dance Songs included it at number 88. In May 2001, VH1's 100 Greatest Videos included it at number 59.
In August 2005, the song was certified gold. In December 2007, VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s included it at number 16.[12] During 2008, it ranked as number 26 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
In October 2005, Blender ranked the song at number 196 in their list of Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.[13]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
In 1991, a parody entitled "I Can't Watch This" was released by "Weird Al" Yankovic for his album Off the Deep End, with lyrics complaining about bad TV shows overlaid on the song's music track (and featuring samples of various commercials during the breakdowns).
Childersburg High School Principal Quentin Lee in Childersburg, Alabama created a parody video to "share some joy" and provide advice to students on handling the COVID-19 pandemic.[64]
The Go Jetters show parodied this song as a commercial for their show, only to be more show-related and be called "Can't Glitch This".
In the Family Guy episode "E Peterbus. Unum", Peter Griffin performed a parody of the song called "Can't Touch Me".
^Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
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