The artistic journey
Stanley Kirk Burrell was born in Oakland, California, on March 30, 1962, in a working-class neighborhood of the Bay Area. At a very young age, he came into contact with the Oakland Athletics baseball team as a bat boy, where owner Charles O. Finley gave him the nickname "Little Hammer" for his resemblance to the legendary Hank Aaron. After a three-year stint in the United States Navy, Hammer returned to his passion for music and dance, venturing into rap in the early 1980s and founding the independent label Bust It Productions.
His recording debut came in 1986 with Feel My Power, self-produced and initially sold directly from the trunk of his car, but it was his second album Let's Get It Started in 1988 that brought him into the spotlight. Absolute consecration, however, came in 1990 with Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em: driven by the single U Can't Touch This — built on the iconic sample of Rick James' Super Freak — the album became the first rap record in history to achieve Diamond certification, selling over ten million copies in the United States. This was followed by the success of 2 Legit 2 Quit in 1991 and a series of mainstream appearances that transformed him into a cultural phenomenon, including the cartoon Hammerman, Pepsi commercials, and the fashion for the characteristic Hammer pants. After the peak of the 1990s and personal bankruptcy in 1996, Hammer reinvented his career by becoming a Christian minister and digital entrepreneur, remaining active as a performer to this day with tours like the Hammer's House Party Tour, a nostalgic 90s revival that since 2023 has brought his music to stages across the United States alongside En Vogue, Coolio, Sir Mix-A-Lot, and other big names from the golden age of pop-rap.
Why collect an MC Hammer autograph
MC Hammer is a recognized legend in hip-hop history: with fifty million records sold worldwide, he is one of the most commercially successful rappers of all time, and U Can't Touch This — inducted into the Library of Congress as an American cultural heritage in 2017 — remains one of the most recognizable songs in all contemporary popular music. His name is inextricably linked to the mainstream explosion of rap in the early 1990s, a period during which he won three Grammy Awards and revolutionized the genre's aesthetic with his famous golden harem pants.
For Italian and international collectors of 80s and 90s music, original MC Hammer autographs represent a piece of cultural history of increasing value, supported by his continuous live activity and renewed interest in the golden age of hip-hop through documentaries, biopics, and celebratory tours for the genre's fiftieth anniversary. An authentic Hammer signature is memorabilia of a global pop icon that defined a decade.
Original MC Hammer autographs on MTM Memorabilia
MTM Memorabilia is the benchmark in Italy for high-level collecting. Every original MC Hammer autograph available on MTM is selected with rigorous criteria of provenance and authenticity by our experts. Every autographed piece is always accompanied free of charge by the MTM Letter of Authenticity (LOA), a document issued by our experts that declares the provenance and veracity of the autograph according to our direct knowledge. Depending on the type and value of the piece, MTM autographs may be accompanied by additional internationally recognized third-party certifications — including the COA-R issued by Associazione Autografia, or certificates from international bodies such as PSA and JSA — included in the price or purchasable separately. Each product sheet precisely indicates the certification available for that specific piece.
