Nerdcore hip hop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nerdcore hip hop, or geeksta rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music characterized by themes and subject matter considered to be of general interest to nerds, though it can appeal to others as well. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot coined the term in 2000 in the song "Nerdcore Hiphop". Frontalot, like most nerdcore artists, self-publishes his work and has released much of it for free online. As a niche genre, nerdcore generally holds to the DIY ethic, has a history of self-publishing and self-production.[1]
Though nerdcore rappers rhyme about anything from politics (Frontalot, "Special Delivery"; MC Lars "UK Visa Versa"; Futuristic Sex Robotz, “Fuck the MPAA”), and even science fiction (Futuristic Sex Robotz, “Positronic Pimp”), there are some perennial favorites in nerdcore subject matter, including Star Wars (Frontalot, "Yellow Lasers"; mc chris', "Fett's Vette"; MC Lars, "Space Game"), science (MC Hawking, "Entropy"; 2 Skinnee J's, "Pluto"), and computers (Optimus Rhyme, "Reboot"; Monzy, "Drama in the PhD"; Monzy, "Kill dash nine").
Music with similar themes, but different musical styles can be found in the geek rock and filk genres. There are hip hop artists who have recorded compositions which focus on similar topics, but who are not generally considered nerdcore. (An example would be Blackalicious, who are generally agreed to not be nerdcore artists despite science-oriented songs like "Chemical Calisthenics".) Conversely, one does not need to concentrate on those topics to be nerdcore: most of the songs by both of the undisputed leaders of the genre, Frontalot and mc chris, do not focus narrowly on stereotypically nerdy topics. The difference is largely one of self-identification; Blackalicious do not identify as "nerds", while Frontalot and Chris both do.[2]
The word "nerdcore" is also occasionally used as an adjective to describe a "hardcore nerd" (that is, someone who publicly takes pride in being nerdy) or anything which is nerdy to an extreme level.
Contents |
[edit] Sound
Nerdcore has no unifying musical sound, and the sound of nerdcore varies wildly from MC to MC. One common theme, especially in the early days of the genre, is uncleared sampling. MC Frontalot addressed this directly in his 1999 song "Good Old Clyde", a thank you of sorts to Clyde Stubblefield for the "funky drummer" break - which was sampled to provide the song's beat. Sources for samples in nerdcore range from Vanilla Ice to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ("Rondo Alla Turca", in MC Plus+'s "Computer Science for Life"). YTCracker's Nerdrap Entertainment System is an entire album made up primarily of samples from 8-bit Nintendo games. Though some artists have moved away from this—Frontalot, for example, completely remixed several songs to remove uncleared samples before releasing them commercially on his 2005 album Nerdcore Rising—it is still quite common, as most nerdcore tracks are released non-commercially and thus attract little to no attention from the RIAA.
Several DJs have provided beats and done remixes for multiple nerdcore artists, most notably Baddd Spellah, who currently mixes the majority of Frontalot's tracks. Spellah also won mc chris's remix competition in 2004.
[edit] History of nerdcore
The term "nerdcore hip hop" was coined in 2000 by MC Frontalot. However, prior to that time artists as varied as the Kool Keith, Deltron 3030, MC 900 Ft. Jesus, and Daniel Dumile began exploring topics far outside of the traditional hip hop culture, including stereotypically "nerdy" topics like space and science fiction. Though these underground artists were generally outside of geek culture and are not considered nerdcore, they can be said to have set the stage for artists like Frontalot, who has listed several of them as influences. Nerdcore had clear influences from geek culture as well, including geek rockers like They Might Be Giants, parodists like "Weird Al" Yankovic (who released a rap called "It's All About The Pentiums" in 1999 and "White & Nerdy" in 2006), and others.
By 2005, the new subgenre of 'geeksta rap', (named for gangsta rap) had definitively emerged, largely independently of more traditional nerdcore. The difference was in both lyrics and attitude; the geeksta artists (mostly computer scientists) focused on proclaiming their prowess with computers and other technical abilities. This braggadoccio led to the first nerdcore feud, between MC Plus+ and Monzy.[3]
Nerdcore artist MC Lars achieved some mainstream success with "Download This Song" in 2006, especially in Australia. The single received sustained radio play and the video was regularly featured on pay-television channels. It spent eight weeks on the ARIA charts, peaking at #29.
[edit] Notable nerdcore artists
There is no canonical definition of nerdcore. The most general definition of a nerdcore artist would be "a rapper who is also a nerd". However, not everyone accepts this. Some limit the genre to artists who openly proclaim themselves as "nerdcore", which automatically precludes any artists who stopped recording before Frontalot coined the term in 2000. Others consider bands to be nerdcore if they are called nerdcore by other nerdcore artists. Many automatically exclude artists who have been released on a major label and/or had some level of commercial success, while others consider this irrelevant. Further, "notability" is somewhat hard to define in a nerdcore context, due to two facts: almost all nerdcore is self-produced and self-distributed, and the genre has not broken into mainstream success. Any list is therefore inherently incomplete and subjective. That said, any list of major players (past and present) in the nerdcore scene would include most if not all of the following:
- Beefy
- Commodore 64
- Jesse Dangerously
- mc chris
- MC Frontalot
- MC Hawking
- MC Lars
- MC Plus+
- Monzy
- Optimus Rhyme
- Shael Riley
- YTCracker
- ZeaLouS1
[edit] Film
Two feature length documentaries about the world of Nerdcore Hip-Hop were completed in early 2008, Nerdcore Rising and Nerdcore For Life. Nerdcore Rising, directed by New York filmmakers Negin Farsad and Kimmy Gatewood, follows Nerdcore pioneer MC Frontalot as he embarked on his first US tour in 2006.[4] Nerdcore For Life by Chicago director Dan Lamoureux examines the genre as a whole and contains appearances by over three dozen of the best known performers in the scene.[5]
Nerdcore Rising premiered at the SXSW Film Conference and Festival 2008 on March 9, 2008. Nerdcore For Life premiered April 5th 2008 at the Wisconsin Film Festival.
[edit] References
- ^ Refrain of the Nerds The Boston Globe. November 4th, 2007
- ^ Dungeons, Dragons and Dope Beats The New York Times. August 5th, 2007
- ^ Geeksta Rappers Rhyme Tech Talk. EE Times. February 13th, 2006.
- ^ Nerdcore Rising vaguelyqualifiedproductions.com
- ^ Nerdcore For Life NerdcoreForLife.com
[edit] External links
- Nerdcorehiphop.org The original Nerdcore News site.
- the underground! cool forum.
- solipsistic NATION A podcast documentary featuring interviews and music from MC Frontalot, Ultraklystron, High-C, YTCracker, funky49, Ham-STAR and Beefy.
- Rocket Propelled Radio An internet radio station run by the nerdcore friendly label EMPulse Records. It broadcasts nerdcore hip-hop songs, chiptunes, wizard rock, and podcasts focusing on the nerdcore community.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
