MC Hammer to start dance website

MC Hammer insists he knows his internet technology

Former rap star MC Hammer is aiming for a comeback - only this Hammer time he wants to be an internet entrepreneur.

Famous in the early 1990s for his hit song "U Can't Touch This" and very baggy trousers, Hammer is launching a website that hopes to rival YouTube.

Due to debut later this month, DanceJam will allow users to share and watch their own dance videos.

If the website is a hit, it could help Hammer's finances - he went bankrupt in 1996 with debts of almost $14m (£7m).

When people are looking for any video... they just start off by going to YouTube. James McQuivey, Forrester Research

Despite earning an estimated $33m, Hammer - real name Stanley Burrell - quickly spent all the money, and more, on an opulent lifestyle of private jets, luxury cars and a gold-drenched Californian mansion.

As his music career and finances fell apart, Hammer reinvented himself as a preacher and TV presenter.

YouTube dominance

Now 45, Hammer told the Associated Press news agency: "There is no high-tech lingo or business strategy that you can talk that is above my head. I breathe this stuff."

Like YouTube, DanceJam aims to make its money from advertisers.

Despite Hammer's confidence, some media analysts say he will have a hard time drawing young people away from YouTube, which last month listed 1.7 million dance videos.

"When people are looking for any video, whether it be about skateboarding, dancing or a science project, they don't stop to think about where's the best place to find it," said James McQuivey of Forrester Research.

"They just start off by going to YouTube."