Music

VH1 Gets Blazed

Music channel snags viral vid.

By D.X. Ferris 

VH1 will shine a spotlight on Cleveland rapper Denny Blaze in Web Junk Presents: 40 Greatest Internet Superstars. Featuring Blaze's "Average Homeboy" video, the special debuts Friday, March 23, at 8 p.m.

"Picking Denny's clip was an easy choice," says Bernie Kaminski, the show's executive producer. "Some of his rhymes are funny, and the lo-fi quality of the video is amusing. But the thing that has made the clip such a sensation is his total commitment to the concept of being the 'Average Homeboy.'"

Now a professional videographer, the Canton native produced the low-budget video in 1990. (The song was recorded with just a cassette recorder, microphone, and keyboard.) The clip, however, didn't become an internet sensation until last year, logging over a million views via YouTube, MySpace, and other sites. More than 20,000 viewers voted for its yet-to-be-revealed spot on the countdown.

The video captures the mullet-crowned white guy wearing sweaters, a day-glo jacket, and a Kent State jersey as he plays baseball, lounges in the 'burbs, and mows his lawn. At the time, Blaze submitted it to MTV, but everybody involved soon forgot about it. Last year, though, an anonymous source unearthed the video and posted it on the internet. It eventually went viral, spawning the catch phrase "You've been Blazed."

Blaze has since cut the mullet, and he's recorded several CDs and cassettes in his own studio. He hopes the VH1 appearance will create some label interest.

"My material is uniquely from a rural point of view," says Blaze. "My style of rap comes from the suburbs of Ohio. I'm just a middle-class white guy who likes to rap."

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