Brooklyn Man Takes Prize in TurboTax Rap Contest

A real estate investor from Brooklyn, N.Y., had the requisite skillz to win the $25,000 TaxRap contest sponsored by TurboTax.In a statement, the company said that the submission from Christian Pulfer, 28, stood out as one of the most individual and creative entries. Pulfer’s entry, “It’s Just a Breeze…G,” was selected by guest judge Vanilla Ice from more than 370 homemade rap videos.

“If you need a dollar, holler, ’cuz I got a lot back,” Pulfer sings in his video, which was showcased on YouTube’s homepage April 15. The minute-long video features Pulfer rapping about the ease of TurboTax filing and the software’s security

 “The lyrical content, his style as a rapper -- he put it all together and had some fun with it,” said Vanilla Ice, known for his seminal hit from 1990, “Ice Ice Baby.”

Carl Tietze of Portland, Ore., was named the $5,000 first-place winner, while the duo of Rhett McLaughlin and Zink Neal from Fuquay-Verina, N.C., were the $1,000 second-place winners. The winners were selected from the 13 finalists who garnered top votes among YouTube viewers.

TurboTax manufacturer Intuit sponsored the TaxRap contest, which ran from Feb. 8 to March 30 on YouTube and at www.TheTaxRap.com. Collectively, the rap videos were viewed more than 2.5 million times. Intuit launched the contest with an original rap video by Vanilla Ice, titled “TurboTax Mojo,” which garnered more than 1 million views on YouTube, ranking as the most viewed entertainment video in its debut week.

A “best of” TaxRap compilation audio download is available on iTunes.

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