Pumps and a Bump

"Pumps and a Bump" is a song by American rapper MC Hammer, now named as only Hammer, released in February 1994 by Giant Records as the first single from his fifth album, The Funky Headhunter (1994).^[3] It was both co-written and co-produced by Hammer, and peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart and No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the final Top 40 hit of Hammer's career. "Pumps and a Bump" represented a departure from the rapper's previous pop image,^[4] and contains a sample of George Clinton's 1982 single "Atomic Dog".^[2]

"Pumps and a Bump"
Single cover
Single by Hammer
from the album The Funky Headhunter
Released	February 28, 1994
Recorded	1993
Genre	West Coast hip hop[1]
Length	5:05
Label	Giant
Songwriter(s)	Stanley Burrell Gerald Baillergeau Deuce Deuce George Clinton Garry Shider David Spradley
Producer(s)	Hammer Gerald Baillergeau[2]
Hammer singles chronology
"This Is the Way We Roll" (1992) "Pumps and a Bump" (1994) "It's All Good" (1994)

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard magazine wrote, "Preview of the forthcoming The Funky Headhunter collection (which also marks a label switch from Capitol to Giant) shows a new and improved Hammer. The bloated pomp and circumstance has been replaced by a gritty jack-swing groove and an electro-funk tone worthy of George Clinton. Track does not instantly hit you over the head, but it does crawl up your spine and sneak into your brain after a couple of spins. Once that happens, you won't be able to stop humming the melody. A smash."^[5]

Music video

The original music video for "Pumps and a Bump" featured Hammer wearing nothing but a Speedo and dancing suggestively alongside numerous swimsuit-clad women, which resulted in it being banned from MTV as it was considered too graphic.^[6] An alternative video was filmed with Hammer fully clothed^[7] and featuring an appearance by Deion Sanders, while promoted as representing a remix of the song.^[8] The video was nominated for Best Choreography at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards.

Impact

In 2010, American Idol contestant Larry Platt performed his own song titled "Pants on the Ground", which Entertainment Weekly claimed sounded similar to "Pumps and a Bump".^[9] Spin magazine described the banned music video as "'Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show' cranked to 11".^[4]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1994) Peak position New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] 41 UK Club Chart (Music Week)[11] 53 US Billboard Hot 100 26 US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard) 34 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) 21 US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard) 3

Year-end charts Chart (1994) Position US Hot Rap songs[12] 50

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[13]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.