| Pumps and a Bump | |
| Cover: | Hammer - Pumps And A Bump.jpg |
| Caption: | Single cover |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Hammer |
| Album: | The Funky Headhunter |
| Released: | February 28, 1994 |
| Recorded: | 1993 |
| Genre: | West Coast hip hop[1] |
| Length: | 5:05 |
| Label: | Giant |
| Producer: | Hammer, Gerald Baillergeau[2] |
| Prev Title: | This Is the Way We Roll |
| Prev Year: | 1992 |
| Next Title: | It's All Good |
| Next Year: | 1994 |
"Pumps and a Bump" is a song by American rapper MC Hammer from his fifth album, The Funky Headhunter (1994).[3] The single peaked at No. 3 on the 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" was the first single off The Funky Headhunter, which represented a departure from Hammer's previous pop image.[4] The track contains a sample of George Clinton's 1982 single "Atomic Dog".[2]
The original music video 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.[5] An alternative video was filmed with Hammer fully clothed[6] and featuring an appearance by Deion Sanders, while promoted as representing a remix of the song.[7]
The video was nominated for Best Choreography at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards.
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".[8] Spin magazine described the banned music video as "'Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show' cranked to 11".[4]
| Chart (1994) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| UK Club Chart (Music Week)[9] | 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 |