The Funky Headhunter#Production

Hammer debuted the album and video for "Pumps and a Bump" two months before its release on The Arsenio Hall Show and finally released it in March. Talk show host Arsenio Hall said to Hammer, "Women in the audience want to know, what's in your speedos in the 'Pumps and a Bump' video?" A clip from the video was then shown, to much approval from the audience. Hammer didn't give a direct answer but instead laughed. Arsenio then said, "I guess that's why they call you 'Hammer.' It ain't got nothin' to do with Hank Aaron" (which refers to the fact that Hammer was nicknamed after Aaron).{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/the-funky-headhunter|title=The Funky Headhunter: Information from|website=Answers.com|access-date=October 13, 2013}}

"Pumps and a Bump" proved to be a controversial track on this album, somewhat affecting Hammer's image. However, the single peaked at number three on the US Rap charts. It was banned from heavy rotation on MTV with censors claiming that the depiction of Hammer in Speedos was too graphic. This led to an alternative video being filmed (with Hammer fully clothed) that was directed by Bay Area native Craig S. Brooks.

"It's All Good", produced by The Whole 9, was the second single released on this album, and peaked on the record charts as follows: US number 46, US R&B number 14, US Rap number three and UK number 52.

This album peaked at number two on the R&B charts and remained in the Top 30 midway through the year. The album eventually reached number 12 on the Billboard 200 chart{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=mc hammer|chart=all}}|title=MC Hammer Chart History|magazine=Billboard|access-date=August 30, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929121030/{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=jewel|chart=all}}|archive-date=September 29, 2007 }} The album managed to become certified platinum.

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000109187|pure_url=yes}}|title=MC Hammer - The Funky Headhunter|last=Wynn|first=Ron|author-link=Ron Wynn|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=August 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827231638/https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000109187|archive-date=August 27, 2023|url-status=live}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2score = B–{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106132945/https://ew.com/article/1994/03/18/funky-headhunter|title=The Funky Headhunter|website=Entertainment Weekly|date=18 March 1994|access-date=31 March 2025}}

| rev3 = Los Angeles Times

| rev3score = {{Rating|1.5|4}}{{cite news|first=Dennis|last=Hunt|title=In Brief|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 6, 1994|access-date=January 21, 2023|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-06-ca-30534-story.html|url-access=limited|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122014405/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-06-ca-30534-story.html|archive-date=January 22, 2023|url-status=live}}

| rev4 = RapReviews

| rev4score = 6.5/10{{cite web|url=https://www.rapreviews.com/2020/09/hammer-the-funky-headhunter/|title=Hammer :: The Funky Headhunter|website=RapReviews|last=Juon|first=Steve 'Flash'|date=1 September 2020|access-date=31 March 2025}}

| rev5 = Select

| rev5score = {{rating|1|5|full=U+25A0.svg|empty=U+25A1.svg|rating=medal}}{{cite magazine|author=AH|url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2013/02/albums7.jpg|title=New Albums: Soundbites|work=Select|date=May 1994|page=87|access-date=December 18, 2024}}

}}

AllMusic writer Ron Wynn said about the album overall: "Hammer's sound was leaner, his rapping tougher and more fluid, and his subject matter harder and less humorous." Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times felt that Hammer had "zero feel" for his choice in subgenre, but praised the record's "smashing beats" and highlighted "Don't Stop" for being "unbelievably funky". In a review for Vibe, contributor Charles Aaron called it "one of the most stunning curios of pop marketing hubris ever perpetrated", criticizing Hammer's half-hearted attempts at dissing other rappers, and the tracks for utilizing the overused G-funk sound and lacking lyrical substance or even "a nifty turn of phrase."{{cite magazine|last=Aaron|first=Charles|title=Hammer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA99|access-date=April 5, 2018|volume=2|issue=3|date=April 1994|magazine=Vibe|pages=99–100|issn=1070-4701|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602235408/https://books.google.com/books?id=1SsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA99#v=onepage&q&f=false|archive-date=June 2, 2021|url-status=dead}}

Information taken from Amazon.com, Apple Music and Spotify.{{cite web|title=Hammer - Funky Headhunter|url=https://www.amazon.com/Funky-Headhunter-Hammer/dp/B000002L1X|website=Amazon.com|year=1994|access-date=September 14, 2019}}{{cite web|title=The Funky Headhunter by MC Hammer on Apple Music|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-funky-headhunter/357909222|website=Apple Music|access-date=September 14, 2019}}{{cite web|title=The Funky Headhunter by MC Hammer on Spotify|url=https://open.spotify.com/album/2VmJZcpJAY8S4pCTxyqVfD|website=Spotify|access-date=September 14, 2019}}

{{Track listing

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| total_length = 68:11

|title1 = Intro

|length1 = 2:11

|title2 = Oaktown

|writer2 = {{hlist|Stanley Burrell|Deuce Deuce|Prince Nelson}}

|extra2 = {{hlist|MC Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length2 = 4:16

|title3 = It's All Good

|writer3 = {{hlist|Deuce Deuce|Burrell|The Whole 9}}

|extra3 = {{hlist|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length3 = 4:10

|title4 = Somethin' for the O.G.'s

|writer4 = {{hlist|Deuce Deuce|Burrell}}

|extra4 = {{hlist|Gerald Baillergeau|Hammer}}

|length4 = 4:15

|title5 = Don't Stop

|writer5 = {{hlist|Aquil Davidson|Menton Smith|Teddy Riley}}

|extra5 = Riley

|length5 = 5:34

|title6 = Pumps and a Bump

|writer6 = {{hlist|David L. Spradley|Deuce Deuce|Garry M. Shider|George Clinton Jr.|Baillergeau|Burrell}}

|extra6 = {{hlist|Baillergeau|Hammer}}

|length6 = 5:05

|title7 = One Mo' Time

|writer7 = {{hlist|Deuce Deuce|Burrell}}

|extra7 = {{hlist|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length7 = 4:08

|title8 = Clap Yo' Hands

|writer8 = {{hlist|Deuce Deuce|Burrell}}

|extra8 = {{hlist|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length8 = 3:47

|title9 = Break 'Em off Somethin' Proper

|writer9 = {{hlist|Deuce Deuce|Burrell}}

|extra9 = {{hlist|Baillergeau|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length9 = 4:18

|title10 = Don't Fight the Feelin{{'-}}

|writer10 = {{hlist|Ben Ross|Deuce Deuce|Burrell}}

|extra10 = {{hlist|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length10 = 3:40

|title11 = Somethin' 'Bout the Goldie in Me

|writer11 = {{hlist|Deuce Deuce|Burrell}}

|extra11 = {{hlist|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length11 = 3:49

|title12 = Sleepin' on the Master Plan

|writer12 = {{hlist|Diaz|Burrell|Kurupt}}

|extra12 = {{hlist|Hammer|Tha Dogg Pound}}

|length12 = 4:50

|title13 = It's All That

|writer13 = {{hlist|Deuce Deuce|Burrell|Sylvester Stewart}}

|extra13 = {{hlist|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length13 = 3:56

|title14 = The Funky Headhunter

|writer14 = {{hlist|Deuce Deuce|Burrell|The Whole 9}}

|extra14 = {{hlist|Andra Hines|Duncan Hines|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length14 = 3:45

|title15 = Pumps and a Bump Reprise (Bump Teddy Bump)

|writer15 = {{hlist|Spradley|Deuce Deuce|Shider|Clinton Jr.|Baillergeau|Burrell}}

|extra15 = {{hlist|Baillergeau|Hammer}}

|length15 = 6:38

|title16 = Help Lord (Won't You Come)

|writer16 = Burrell

|extra16 = {{hlist|Hammer|The Whole 9}}

|length16 = 3:44

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Exclusive bonus tracks (UK, Belgium and Japan)

| total_length =

| title17 = Do It Like This

| title18 = Heartbreaka (Is What They Call Me)

}}

Break 'Em Off Somethin' Proper

• "So Ruff, So Tuff" by Roger Troutman
• "Stay" by Jodeci
• "Check the Rhime" by A Tribe Called Quest

Don't Fight the Feelin'

• "Person to Person" by Average White Band

Don't Stop

• "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" by Tom Browne
• "Der Kommissar" by Falco
• "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton
• "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh

It's All Good

• "Dusic" by Brick
• "Hobo Scratch" by Malcolm McLaren

Oaktown

• "More Bounce to the Ounce" by Zapp
• "Get It Up" by The Time

Pumps and a Bump

• "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton

Somethin' for the O.G.'s

• "Dance Floor" by Zapp
• "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton

Adapted from the liner notes of The Funky Headhunter.{{cite AV media notes|title=The Funky Headhunter|others=Hammer|year=1994|publisher=Giant. Reprise|type=liner notes|id=24545}}

• Wilton Rabb – guitar (tracks 8, 11–14)
• Ben Ross – bass (track 14)
• Eddy Schreyer – mastering (Future Disc, Los Angeles)
• Nancie Stern, Mary-Jo Braun – sample clearance assistance (Music Resources)
• Kevin Design Hosmann – art direction
• Michael Miller – photography
• Madame Mack Style – stylist

{{certification Table Top}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Japan|artist=MC Hammer|title=The Funky Head hunter|award=Gold|certyear=1994|relyear=1994|certmonth=9|access-date=October 22, 2019}}

{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Hammer|title=The Funky Headhunter|award=Platinum|certyear=1994|relyear=1994|access-date=October 22, 2019}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

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Category:1994 albums

Category:MC Hammer albums

Category:Giant Records (Warner) albums

Category:RCA Records albums

Category:G-funk albums

Category:Hardcore hip-hop albums

Category:Albums produced by Teddy Riley