Trend: Bankrupt!: Stop! HammerTime!

In keeping with the trend of mega-rich stars who can't manage a big buck...

Nashville, TN startup EverGreen Copyright has acquired the music catalog of MC Hammer from the trustee of the rapper's bankruptcy estate for $2.7 million.

Evergreen, which was launched six-months ago by industry veterans Joel A. Katz, David K. Schulhof, and Richard Perna, now controls over 40,000 copyrights.

"We made tremendous progress in only six months," said David K. Schulhof, co-CEO of Evergreen. "The MC Hammer catalog brings some of the best selling and most popular rap songs of all time to Evergreen's catalog."

Songs in MC Hammer's catalog include "Turn This Mutha Out," from the rapper's breakout double platinum release Let's Get It Started, as well as "Too Legit To Quit," "Pray" and one of rap's biggest selling singles, "U Can't Touch This," which helped the rapper's 1990 release Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em to sales in excess of 10 million copies.

"We anticipate that many songs in the MC Hammer catalog will emerge as a perfect fit for licensing in movies, television shows, and corporate advertising," Schulhof added.

MC Hammer filed for bankruptcy protection in 1996, with debts in excess of $14 million, despite raking in over $33 million in 1991.

Some of the rapper's assets included a luxurious mansion valued between $12 and $20 million dollars, 17 race cars, a Boeing 727, a Kentucky Derby race horse and a monthly payroll of over $500,000.



via AllHipHop.com