Hammered

There's more than a desiccated corpse to fight over, should it come to that. Hammer has reinvented himself, announcing the onset of his gospel career. "I had an up-close and personal conversation with God, and he spanked me," Hammer said. "I deserved it." He seems to be once more making money: Last year he formed Hit Tyme, Inc., a multimedia entertainment company, and released A Family Affair on the Bay Area-based Oaktown Records, of which he owns a portion. Slick and smooth, A Family Affair is typical of modern MOR gospel--precise without passion and made to sell. Hammer should do well. He's appearing on TV again; just last year, he turned Sally Jesse Raphael down when she wouldn't give him her show's full hour--same ol' Hammer. He has his own Web site, where he touts his new direction and tiptoes around his past. The site is a bit odd for a gospel enterprise, full of the flash and glitter of the old days. Hammer shows off his glistening, pumped-up pectorals to good effect throughout, and the religious angle is low-key. The effect is a disconcerting mix of church and nightclub, kind of like Jesus in jerry curls.

Ironically enough, gospel is also the arena that has attracted Kevin. Now a deacon for Pentecostal preacher T.D. Jakes, Kevin is working as a home health aide during the day and preparing for a gospel career; for now, however, he's content to study under Jakes so that he can "learn the things you're supposed to know before you go out there and sing the Gospel." He credits Jakes with bringing him a measure of peace when it comes to MC Hammer. "Through the power of the Bishop, I learned that God wants me to be content on the one hand, but He also wants me to have faith and be patient too.

"Before, I didn't have that, but now I'm content, because I know that He's working it out. I don't need to dwell on something that He's in charge of."

Of course, if it was up to MC Hammer, a man who now puts God in his melodies and Jesus in his dance steps, Kevin would be waiting "to work things out" well into his next life.