Blaise is a native of Athens, Georgia and a die hard Georgia Bulldog.
Blaise was the kid in middle school that loved sports and music, got along with everyone and always had all the newest and hottest records. Blaise’s entrepreneurial spirit started at a very early when he would create mix tapes and then sell them around school to earn extra money which eventually financed his first set of turntables and mixer.
His passion for Music and DJing along with his love of Sports consumed most of his time throughout High School. After graduating from Clarke Central High School in 1990, he began to follow his passion further toward the music industry with his good friend, Jason Brown, who we know now as ‘Colt Ford’ and at the time was a writer for platinum recording producer, Jermaine Dupri. Just as Atlanta was beginning to make some noise as the place to be for music with groups like TLC, Kris Kross, Arrested Development and ABC, Jermaine had formed the hip hop group, Javier & The Str8Jackers. As a behind the scenes member of the group, Blaise learned a lot of useful music industry knowledge being around Jermaine and his music circle of friends around Atlanta. Deciding to learn more and more areas of the music industry, he decided to take a different approach to traditional college.
After obtaining Radio Broadcasting & Audio Engineering Degrees, Blaise opened his own urban music retail shop in is home town of Athens, Flava’ Entertainment, before teaming up with legendary record label, Tommy Boy Records and Atlanta based LaFace Records where he helped build a grass roots buzz around the State of Georgia for the then unknown duo ‘OutKast’ whose debut album went on to take them to Multi Platinum status and eventually onto International fame.
After moving to Miami, Florida in 1995, he took on position at the world famous South Beach Studios on Miami Beach assisting the likes of Aerosmith, Alanis Morrisette & Prince. After a few years and not being content with being stuck in a studio or in a retail atmosphere, Blaise moved back to Athens. After arriving back in Georgia in 1998, he met a talented young lyricist through a childhood friend named, Warren Mathis, who we now know as Bubba Sparxxx. Saturating the streets from Athens to Lagrange, Blaise helped the then unknown local lyricist launch his 1st independent single release, ‘Hungry’ featuring Athens, Georgia hip hop music producer and legend, Duddy Ken.
Soon after relocating to Tampa, Florida, Bubba was signed to Mega Producer, Timbaland’s ‘Beat Club / Interscope’ label imprint. Based on friendship and a past working relationship between Blaise and Bubba, Interscope Records came knocking and he quickly began to build a name for himself again around Florida. Through those industry connections and relationships, Blaise expanded his label roster to include Def Jam, Atlantic, Virgin, Capitol and Warner Brothers, to name a few. After receiving the award for Promotion Rep of the year in both 2004 and 2005, the music industry began to change and transform into a more digital space. 2006 came and that’s where personal life events and music industry relationships met hence Street Laced was officially launched and has now evolved into a full service Talent Booking and Grassroots/Social Media Marketing company.
Blaise’s undeniable relationships with Tampa’s heavy hitting DJs, Tastemakers and Local Business Owners has not only helped Street Laced create strong ties across Florida, but, has also expanded his Entrepreneurial spirit into other business projects including his own Talent Management and Development company, The Marker Agency, as well as his Tailgate Champs brand of Bloody Mary Mix and Tailgate DJs network. Also as an operating partner with The Tampa Bay Festival Kings, these are just a few projects under the ever expanding Blaze 1 Ventures umbrella.
Proud to always represent his Georgia roots, Blaise now calls Tampa, Florida home with his wife of 28 years, Vanida, and their 2 children, Marley and Parker.