I was unaware that MC Hammer is one of the most feared figures in the hip hop world.

That led me down a DJ Vlad rabbit hole.

My favorite excerpt from this part of my research was the following info from Too Short:

In a 2018 interview, Too Short expressed respect for MC Hammer, having come up around the same time. “Hammer was a big dog,” Too Short said. “He got respect in the streets. He came from a respected crew. They handled business. Him and his brother Louis and the crew.”

Asked about the alleged hit Hammer put out on MC Serch, Too Short said the only part he didn’t believe was the $50,000—because Hammer would never have to pay for such services.

“Without spending any money, he coulda told people to fuck [MC Serch] the fuck up,” Too Short said. “I know who Hammer was affiliated with and he wouldn’t have to pay to tell somebody to fuck somebody up. His people would just do it. We’re from Oakland. Like, he wouldn’t even have to say it.”

That then led me to find this forum thread, where people with first hand knowledge of Hammer's rep chimed in:

MC Hammer has a legit goon squad and strong ties.

I wouldn't say it's common knowledge but plenty of people have talked about how thorough Hammer was/is.

Oh yeah there been stories since the beginning, and he use to roll deep with some true goons.

him turning to Jesus wasn't a fluke. he had some..things to be remorseful about.

Yeah dude had goons and shooters rolling deep, it's a major reason he bled money like a sieve.

All those dudes you think were early 90's goofy shits were actually legit, you just couldn't parse it through all the pageantry.

Growing up in the early 90s, parents and teachers were all fearmongering over gangsta rap, when they should've been more scared of that crazy dancing guy in the baggy pantaloons they fawned over. How little did they know.

Yup. Of all the artists at Death Row, Hammer was the only one of any note that Suge didn't try to fuck with. He knew better.

I didn't grow up in the East Bay but close enough that I heard rumblings of Hammer even back then. We'd all joke like "yeah ofc, he's from Oaktown he better be legit" but none of us knew shit that was real.

Dude people don't realize all these happy go lucky dudes you see nowadays were real killers back in the day with crews behind them.