MC Hammer may have left his 90s chart hits and wide pants behind, but the rap star is still capable of some nifty dance moves, notably the launch of DanceJam.com, a new online video site.
While YouTube is the home of everything from stupid pet tricks to movie trailers, the explosion of online video means new video “verticals” are emerging – such as the comedy clips on Will Ferrell’s FunnyorDie.com and now DanceJam, still in a closed beta stage.
Giving us some Hammer time at the FT’s San Francisco office, “the dean of urban dance” proved he was extremely tech-savvy and was providing much more than a pop star’s endorsement for a site he has co-created with Geoffrey Arone and Anthony Young, founders of the social networking browser Flock.
His interest in the internet dates back to 1994: “It was purely ego-driven,” he says.
“I thought if the Net is so great, why can’t I see my videos on it.”
He remembers visiting Silicon Graphics and going over to Apple and "seeing some kid writing the code for Quicktime."
The idea for DanceJam has evolved over the past two years.
"The challenge i saw was that there was a dramatic decline in the music industry and there was a need to create the next music model."
He decided to build a community around dance in all its forms and tested his ideas in talks with Google and Ron Conway, a well known venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, before hooking up with Flock’s executives.
DanceJam allows members to upload videos of their dances and will combine this user-generated content with music and dance from major media companies. It categorises dance into different styles and geographies and lets its community vote on the hottest exponents.
Its video player is innovative – allowing slow-motion and "scratch" type effects where it rewinds three seconds.
MC Hammer says he has been lining up "five-star sponsorship" and will extend this to offline "dance-off" competitions. In turn, these will be filmed and become premium content on the site.
He sees endless possibilities: "Cheerleading – I’d need another rack of servers just for [those contests]," he says.
Hammer himself does not aim to dominate DanceJam with his skills.
"I’m trying to downplay Hammer," he says.
"But there will be the Hammer brand, some instructional videos, and we’ll be doing some very exciting things to help you sharpen your dance repertoire."
