VH1's White Rapper Show reaches its season finale tonight with a final showdown between vanilla rappers John Brown and $hamrock. Our money's on $hamrock, a fairly fly white guy from Atlanta, and easily the least clueless of the show's dubiously selected contestants.
But what do we know? To better handicap the contest for you, we asked someone whose opinion should carry a little more weight: Canton's Denny Blaze, a rapper who is white. Blaze says he hasn't been watching.
"I believe that show was produced to make white rappers look silly," says Blaze. "When VH1 was casting for this show, I had a few people recommend me for the show. However, once the show's format was described, I was not interested. The producers wanted to take the white rappers and place them into a black environment to compare the two styles. I give props to where rap was originated. However, my material is uniquely from a rural point of view. I'm just a middle-class white guy who likes to rap. Whether it's rap or any line of work, no one should have to explain why they do what they do because of the color of their skin. This includes white rappers."
Don't take Blaze's lack of enthusiasm as sour grapes; the mullet-crowned rapper is good enough for VH1. He'll be on the channel Friday, April 6, at 8 p.m., as part of The Top 40 Greatest Internet Super Stars, a showcase for some of the web's most viral videos. The show will spotlight Blaze's "Average Homeboy" clip.
Eminem he ain't, but at least he's not trying to act like 50 Cent. See Blaze live this Thursday, March 1, at the Agora.
And if you haven't been watching the White Rapper show, it's really not that bad. Leading up to the finale, VH1 is airing an all-day marathon, which is hosted by 3rd Bass' MC Serch and features appearances by Everlast, Kid Rock, and Just Blaze. -- D.X. Ferris
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