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Ozzy did it. So did Gene Simmons. Now, MC Hammer is also taking the reality route.

The hit-making ’90s rapper is the latest performer to star in his own reality series, which will begin shooting next week and is slated to premiere later this year on A&E.

“Hammertime” will follow Hammer, his wife and five children over the course of 11 half-hour episodes.

The performer, who shot to success in the early ’90s and sold millions of records before running into financial troubles, “now lives a more economically balanced life” as a “New Age dad” in Oakland, Calif., according to the show’s press materials.

“Here’s a dad with five kids, married to the same woman for more than 23 years, living in the same place where he grew up and going to church every Sunday,” executive producer J.D. Roth told The Hollywood Reporter.

“He’s had his ups and downs, and it’s what makes him such a character you root for.”

Roth added that he told Hammer he wanted to focus on his future rather than his past.

“I really wanted to tell the future of MC Hammer,” Roth said. “What kind of dad is he?”

Hammer recently returned to the spotlight when he appeared in a Cash4Gold Super Bowl ad alongside Ed McMahon earlier this month.

Former rap star MC HAMMER is planning a musical comeback in a bid to raise money for church groups.

The MC-turned-minister – real name Stanley Kirk Burrel – achieved huge success with hit album Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em’ in 1990 and is planning a career revival with the release of a new album late this year (07).

He says, “I plan to give all the proceeds to church groups.” (CJM/WNSST/LJ)

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