MC Hammer's digital life

You wouldn't pick it by looking at him but rap star MC Hammer is a big self-confessed geek.

In fact, he refers to his "geek family" in conversation, owns so many Xboxes and flat screens that he's lost count (short answer is one on each wall of his substantial house), talks breathlessly about Twitter and Facebook and loves mobile phones as "go-to" platforms for music.

He drinks enough V and coffee to put professional gamers to shame and his son modifies Xbox controllers to sell on eBay.

He's embraced digital media with such fervour, you would think he's a Gen-Y just by talking to him. But he's not Gen-Y; not even Gen-X. Try Baby Boomer. Yet Hammer is more articulate about the impact of technology on our lives than most born with one hand on a mouse.

The artist most famous for taking rap music mainstream with chart-topping hits like U Can't Touch This (1990) has a following of 1.6 million users on Twitter and growing. He's shunned the traditional method of promoting music through big studios and has already written off CDs as a medium.

"Digital files are no doubt not just the future but the present. I think that it's [the CD format] on its last legs, it's on an artificial respirator," Hammer says.

"The CD is now the wax album and so it is a collector's item for people who collect music and love to look at the liner notes and feel paper. I don't know what would turn them on about having to go through that terrible exercise of trying to open the packaging - it's unbelievable when you're trying to open a CD, right? You need a box cutter ... it's a tough deal to get it open. And once you get it open, the first thing you do with that CD, you know what you do? You go and upload it to your computer," he says with a hearty laugh.

So what about the way the music industry has been combating digital piracy? In Hammer's view, it's only served to alienate the buying public.

"The approach that the music industry took to fight piracy was the wrong strategy. It certainly didn't stop anything but it did distance the companies from the general public who were actually supporters of the industry. So, my belief is that the industry needs a different approach towards piracy," he says.

The landmark legal battle currently being fought in Australia between the film industry and internet service provider iiNet makes this all the more topical. The film industry contends that iiNet should be responsible for blocking access to customers who violate copyright material. It's not a position Hammer agrees with.

"When there is a murder done with the gun, do they go back to the guy who sold the gun at the store and arrest him? No they don't. They arrest the person who did it. So in this particular case, somebody is stealing content using the freeway. You can't go back and sue the construction men," he says.

"You can't arrest the construction men for somebody using the freeway incorrectly or using it as a getaway tool, or using it to steal. So my position would be the wrong party is being sued. Their strategy - the guys in litigation - is: 'If we win this one, or scare people with this one, then ... there are civil actions we can take and so the totality of our legal strategy is what it's about versus just this one case.'

"So we all know the implications of this one case is maybe the reason why they file. So you have to be ever open-minded when you're dealing with legal but, on the surface, I would say that it would seem like they're going after the wrong party," he says.

Hammer was in Australia last week promoting the new Twitter and Facebook clients on the Xbox Live service, due out towards the end of this month. He was also plugging the new Lips: Number One Hits Xbox 360 game that includes U Can't Touch This as one of the sing-along tracks.

Asked about the future of music, however, Hammer says he's now all about the "visuals".

Instead of the traditional music video, Hammer would like to see music lyrics analysed the way literature and poetry are studied in schools.

"I believe there is an untapped wealth of rich media from every song that's created. If you dig deep into the lyrical content of songs, there is a wealth of film in lyrics," he says.

"I see a future of rich media around film. And film over the internet is easily distributed and easily monetised. iTunes now allows you to sell short films for $1.99. It's just there. So if you create a film, you put it up there, they actually let you start selling it right away for $1.99 at the store.

"So I don't need a CD. I want mine visual. When you marry audio and visual together, you create a great experience, it's very impressionable and it's everlasting."

- © Fairfax NZ News