Social media is on fire celebrating the Grammy’s salute to 50 years of hip-hop, with many excited over seeing their favorite rap stars that span five decades of rap music. However, there were some megastars noticeably missing from the production “A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip Hop” — like MC Hammer.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the musical director of the special, revealed that the decision by the “Let’s Get It Started” artist to decline the invitation to join LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Will Smith and others was one of the most heart-wrenching rejections he encountered during the production.
During a Q&A session on the X platform, one fan asked the Roots co-founder, “Was MC Hammer invited??!!”
The producer was short, saying, “We begged him to open.”
We begged him to open 🤷🏾♂️
— ?st (@questlove) December 11, 2023
A separate comment asked, “Who did you want, but they couldn’t make it? Fave performance?”
He invoked the Oakland emcee’s name, during the 10-minute app interview, writing, “Of all the ‘No’s’….Hammer hurt the most. We really wanted him to have his flowers.”
Of all the “No’s”….Hammer hurt the most. We really wanted him to have his flowers
— ?st (@questlove) December 11, 2023
When another fan asked, “Did anybody that you really wanted to perform decline to participate?” Questlove answered, “Of course, everyone was asked, but Hammer’s “no”…..ugh man that woulda been amazing.”
One person, seemingly in the know, commented, saying, “Hammer got his reasons.”
Hammer got his reasons, thanks for the attemp Quest 🧡
— Christopher Balboa (@Christo32823438) December 14, 2023
According to MC Hammer, he didn’t participate in any of the HipHop50 events, except one, because he didn’t want to be around the “fake.”
The only celebration he attended was the November street renaming ceremony for Tupac Shakur, who got his start as a teen in Oakland, California.
“You ain’t hear me go to none of these HipHop50 — and just for the record, I got invited to every one,” said Hammer at last month’s event.
“But I really don’t have the patience for the fakeness,” he continued. “I’m really 60 years old. I can’t get with the fakeness of it all. I could do it with a young cat, but I can’t go around old cats and still be pretending.”
Hammer, who holds the distinction of being the first rap artist to achieve Diamond status with his 1990 album, “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em,” was not the only one who did not attend the Grammy event. Cultural icons like 50 Cent, RUN-DMC, the Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, and KRS-One were also absent.
Like the “U Can’t Touch This” Grammy winner, the Blastmaster KRS-One declined to attend the special, as reported by TMZ, saying it was disingenuous on The Recording Academy’s part.
“So when I got the call, I immediately saw it, ‘Nah. Nah,’ ” he said. “First of all, it’s the Grammys? You get no respect here. None. None. You have no respect here. Now, we respect your existence. We know you exist. We know that you’re the Grammys. We understand that, and we respect that — your existence.
“But you ignored Hip-Hop for 49 years. At the 50th year, you wanna call us? 49 years, you ignored us! The 50th year! That’s when you call! You couldn’t even call for 47 and gear it up to at least 50. At least get us into 47. No. You wait till the 50th year to wanna call Hip-Hop’s authentic teacher? Nah. You don’t get that privilege. I refuse to show up. Y’all go ahead and play games with yourselves,” he said.
Public Enemy, Rakim, E-40, Jeezy, Nelly, Rick Ross, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, Cypress Hill, DJ Quik, Bun B, DJ Trauma, Talib Kweli and Too Short, were among the artists who attended the show, which aired on Sunday, Dec. 10 on CBS.
One highlight from the event was a closing performance from DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, a reunion that reminded people why they loved the rapper-turned-actor Will Smith.
