"Pray" was the third single released from MC Hammer

MC Hammer

Stanley Kirk Burrell , better known by his stage name MC Hammer , is an American rapper, entertainer, business entrepreneur, dancer and actor. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s...

's third album, Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. Produced by MC Hammer himself, the song heavily sampled

Sampling (music)

In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 Prince's

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 hit song, "When Doves Cry

When Doves Cry

A hit cover version by R&B singer Ginuwine was produced by Timbaland in 1996 for Ginuwine's The Bachelor album, Ginuwine's cover uses actual dove sound effects as texture for its jungle music-inspired instrumental track.-Charts:-Other cover versions:...

", the first and one of the few songs legally sanctioned by Prince to incorporate samples of one of his compositions. The track also sampled Faith No More

Faith No More

Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...

's "We Care a Lot

We Care a Lot

We Care a Lot is the debut studio album by American rock band Faith No More, originally released in 1985 and distributed through San Francisco-based label Mordam Records. On the original vinyl release, the band is credited as "Faith...

".http://www.contactmusic.com/info/mc_hammer

"Pray" became Hammer's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, where it peaked at number two, and also become a Top-20 hit in nine countries. In the US, the song was certified gold

Music recording sales certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 on November 26, 1990, with sales over 500,000 copies.

This hit single

Hit single

A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...

 (accompanied with music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s)http://www.uulyrics.com/music/mc-hammer/song-pray/video-mc-hammer-pray-remix/ became one of Hammer's most popular songs and has appeared on several compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

s, including Greatest Hits

Greatest Hits (MC Hammer album)

Greatest Hits is a pop album from M.C. Hammer in 1996 which features his most successful singles from his first four albums. There are currently two versions/covers of his "Greatest Hits" album, the other titled The Hits in 2000.-Track listing:...

, Back 2 Back Hits

Back 2 Back Hits

Back 2 Back Hits is a compilation album by rappers M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice. The album was originally released in 1998 for CEMA Special Markets and was re-released in 2006 for Capitol Records. The first five songs on the album are by M.C. Hammer, and the last five are by Vanilla Ice...

and The Hits

The Hits (MC Hammer album)

The Hits is a 2000 compilation album by rap artist M.C. Hammer. It contains tracks from his first four albums.-Track listing:# "U Can't Touch This"# "Addams Groove"# "Too Legit to Quit"# "This Is The Way We Roll"# "Pray"# "Turn This Mutha Out"...

.

Track listing

1. "Pray" (Slam The Hammer Mix) - 8:01 (aka Maxi-Single Remix)
2. "Pray" (Slam The Hammer Piano Dub) - 5:26
3. "Pray" (Jam The Hammer Mix) - 5:00
4. "Pray" (Hit 'Em Hard Mix) - 5:25
5. "Pray" (Nail 'Em Down Chant) - 4:56
6. "U Can't Touch This" (LP Version) - 4:15

Additional versions released

1. "Pray" (LP Version) - 5:16
2. "Pray" (Radio edit) - 4:11
3. "Pray" (Instrumental) - 4:43

http://www.oonly.com/search/pray+MC+Hammer/1/video

Charts

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Chart (1990)	Peak position
Billboard Hot 100	2
Billboard Hot R&B Singles	4
Billboard Hot Rap Singles	7
Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles	3
Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	27
Australian Singles Chart	7
Austria	13
Netherlands	3
New Zealand	2
Norway	5
Sweden	18
Switzerland	10
UK Singles Chart	8