U Can't Touch This

"U Can't Touch This"
Single by MC Hammer
from the album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em
B-side"Dancin' Machine"
ReleasedMay 28, 1990 (1990-05-28) (UK)
Recorded1989[1]
Genre
Length4:16
LabelCapitol (US)
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)MC Hammer
MC Hammer singles chronology
"Dancin' Machine"
(1989)
"U Can't Touch This"
(1990)
"Have You Seen Her"
(1990)
Music video
"U Can't Touch This" on YouTube

"U Can't Touch This" is a song co-written, produced, and performed by American rapper MC Hammer. It was released as the third single from his third album, Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em (1990), and has been considered his signature song. Along with Hammer, Rick James shares songwriting credits with Alonzo Miller, as the song samples the prominent opening riff of James' 1981 single "Super Freak". The song has been used and referred to in many television shows, films, commercials, and other forms of media. It has also received multiple awards and recognition.

The song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. It is the first rap song to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Record of the Year at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards in 1991, and the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video and MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, and charted in several countries.

  1. ^ Pastorek, Whitney (January 11, 2010). "20 Years Ago: MC Hammer drops 'U Can't Touch This'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  2. ^ Pemberton, Pat (June 14, 2012). "U Can't Touch This". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  3. ^ Magill, Frank N. (1998). Chronology of Twentieth-century History: Arts and Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn. p. 1822. ISBN 978-1-88496-466-4.