#nerdcore rappers

[technicallyoneofakind]

The Stupendium is one of those people that's so... gender in the most nonbinary way. Respectfully, I'm obsessed with their presentation.

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Now You Don't • Passionfruit • When I Am Successful I'mma Buy a Neo Geo • Lovedrug (Off That) • Sleeptalking • Saffron • Dirge • Put it Down • Cult • Fair One • Lil Empathy

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp ♪ YouTube

[thisaintascenereviews]

Nerdcore Hip-Hop Is A Product Of Its Time But Lives On Today

Childish Gambino’s 2011 debut album, Camp, is what I consider the first rap album that I ever got into when I was a lot younger. I talked about it recently, actually; that piece recontextualizes Camp and its place in the grand scheme of rap music and my own music taste. I won’t go into detail about it again, since I already talked a lot about it, but I will say that it was an accessible pop-rap album that had some catchy hooks and clever bars. I’d be lying, however, if I said that Camp was the first rap album I ever heard or that Childish Gambino was the first rapper I ever got into, and alternative rap / backpack rap wouldn’t be the first type of rap I got into back when I was a teenager. That would be nerdcore, specifically MC Lars, and his third album, 2011’s Lars Attacks.

Nerdcore, for those unaware, is a sub-genre of hip-hop that is very “nerdy,” usual in its lyricism. The genre began in the late 00s, starting with MC Frontalot, whose 2005 debut album is called Nerdcore Rising. Guys like MC Lars, Schaffer The Darklord, Beefy, MC Chris, Mega Ran, and a bunch of other artists, have kept the genre going for many years, but it’s certainly fallen out of favor over time. I’m getting way ahead of myself, but my introduction to the genre was through MC Lars. I don’t remember how I found his music, but it was probably online somewhere, or through Alternative Press or AbsolutePunk, because Lars was frequently touring with alternative and punk bands, as well as being on Warped Tour. He had the unique identity of being a rapper was influenced by punk and hardcore, as well as fellow rappers and rap groups.

In 2011, he dropped the aforementioned Lars Attacks; this was his third album, but I would just as easily recommend his debut album, 2006’s The Graduate. Going back to that album, it’s a better introduction because of how short it is, and how its lyrical themes were both weirdly prophetic and topical at the same time. MC Lars is a nerdcore rapper that doesn’t just rap about “nerdy” stuff, but he also raps about the Internet, pop culture, literature, and history. The Graduate has all of that, including songs about downloading and streaming music, the Internet generation (that would eventually become known as Gen Z), the fad of commercially viable emo / alt-rock at the time, Internet relationships and “catfishing,” a song about Moby Dick, and some sillier songs about random stuff that make for good jokes.

Lars Attacks is very similar, but has less of a theme, although it has songs about Lars digging back into rap’s past, summer love at a camp, the poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe, Judas betraying Jesus from Judas’ perspective, the story of The Giving Tree, and just a bunch of random songs with singular ideas that are self-contained jokes, not necessarily about anything at all. This album introduced me to the idea of rap music being more relatable, because part of why I could never get into it was that its main ideas just didn’t appeal to me. I didn’t realize that rap music was multifaceted, and different sub genres of it existed that focused on different ideas and subject matter, but nerdcore made me feel seen, at least as a “nerd” before it was cool to be considered a nerd.

Before the late 2000s and early 2010s, it wasn’t cool to be into superheroes, video games, books, and things that “normal people” weren’t into. In the 90s and early 2000s, alternative rap played with this idea, but it was never a mainstream thing. With the rise of the MCU, and other properties that became a lot more popular, it was the perfect time for something like nerdcore to really manifest, ultimately becoming a product of its time. Nerdcore certainly coincided with the rise of “nerd culture,” because if that never happened, nerdcore would probably be a very niche genre, and to some extent, it still is very niche.

Looking at the genre in its heyday, it’s easy to see (and hear) why it was so popular, because white dudes rapping about D&D, Magic The Gathering, video games, and comic books wasn’t super common. With the rise of nerd culture in the zeitgeist, nerdcore’s popularity waned, even though a lot of these artists are still around today. Nerdy references also crept their way into hip-hop, too, so it’s normal for a mainstream rapper to talk about anime, movies, video games, and whatever they’re into, and it made nerdcore somewhat obsolete.

The biggest elephant in the room when discussing the genre as well, and I just kind of hinted at it, is race. The genre was primarily populated by cis, white, and straight guys. The genre’s gotten a bit better over the years, but it also kind of still carries the same sexism that nerd culture always has, where women have to prove themselves to be a nerd, and they’re often seen as lesser fans or not “real fans” because they happen to enjoy it. Maybe it was unintentional, because of it being such a niche genre, but even so, there is that elephant in the room.

Like I said, the genre has remained relatively steady over the last 15 years, since its original popularity, but there are some artists that have picked up the torch in one way or another. MC Lars is still going strong, but rappers like Hoodie Allen, Joey Valance & Brae, and a few others are keeping the genre alive. A lot of artists are using nerdy references, like I said, such as Denzel Curry, Lupe Fiasco, and Childish Gambino, but the latter two were around during that initial nerd culture popularity. They overlapped with the “blog era” of rap and the rise of nerd culture, but it’s good to have nerd culture normalized now, versus still being made fun of for liking comic books or video games.

Honestly, nerdcore has no real reason to exist now, because you can consider a lot of artists that have pop culture references in their lyricism to be “nerdcore,” but they wouldn’t identify as such. It still lives on, and I look at its brief window of popularity with fondness, because that was a stepping stone for me to get into other kinds of rap, despite how I still enjoy MC Lars and a few other artists in that style. You’re not missing much if you don’t listen to it, but I will have to write something separate on MC Lars in particular, because I think Lars transcends the genre into something more. Nerdcore is a genre that I’ve been aware of for years, so it’s cool to finally talk about it in some capacity.

[throwedgenji]

Splatterhouse Rap by Throwed Genji (Prod. TheOldschoolBrotha)

[kingmonsiuer]

Come out to @valhallaelounge today to see me and some other amazing artist perform today! HAPPY ST Patrick’s DAY come find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow lol 🤩😉 Follow the Artist: @shubzilla @joenovember @themicrophonemisfitz @kingmonsieurraps @richiebranson @noirgrime @laceyjohnsonmusic @gross._.angel @aka_swell_rell @mastersofunlockingband @otakuxunderworld @nerdcore_dayz @billbeats @mc_lars @lord _xzae @starfightermatt @spicypandastickers @philoniusphunk @mcohmi @twilldistilled @Loolowningen #StreamKing Linktree.com/KingMonsieur #NerdCoreDayz #DjRockman #Rap #HipHop #Rapper #AustinTX #KingMonsieur #liveMusic #nerdcore #Pop #Rock #music #Dope #fun #trip #texas #2023 (at Valhalla Esports Lounge) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp58bykv5G9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[drowninginyourtouch]

i dont really do self promo that often but

i make music n im gonna try and drop some new stuff soon so if yall wanna follow me or w/e yeaa

i do a lot of emo rap and pluggnb and that sort of thing so if that sounds interesting

im bad at self promo type shit i just wanted to promo my soundcloud and say i make music and that i got new shit coming soon so go fw me :)

[nerdsworth]

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This track will make you wanna dance!   "Apis", Worthy Mixtape trk003. The sample Miura by Metro Area! Download: https://www.patreon.com/Nerdsworth Full listen: https://on.soundcloud.com/UjX4K

[okumuramusicgroup]

walking through an upper middle class neighborhood like

[rayneyshark]

From somewhere on the interwebs to you!

Hey yo~! What's up everyone, I'm Rayney (she/her), I'm a Rapper and Vtuber. I mostly stream nostalgic games and well I make music as well! Twitter seems to be burning down with everyone watching from the top of a building while the musk man hits the nay nay from whatever office.... sooo begins the great migration. AGAIN You can find me on most social media platforms that includes twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/rayneyshark

twitter: https://twitter.com/RayneyShark (yeah still here) Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCns-bRJCuYHiLN1q13oFTtQ OR you can use this handy site to find it all in one place... except for my tiktok.... https://rayneyshark.carrd.co Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rayneyshark?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc Anyway hope to meet some people make some friends and enjoy my time on this site!

[sixlimbs]

00s music au

emo band ninth house

pop idol coronabeth

nerdcore rapper palamedes

[brucebocchi]

Do all white nerd rappers try to emulate Eminem consciously or is it like convergent evolution?

i’m not going to give a lesson on nerdcore at 1:42am so i’ll just say that this is actually the preferable option

[enlightenedrobot]

Since a lot of white nerds on fandom tumblr are being exposed to rap for the first time, might I recommend MF Doom?

I mean... he feels like he'd be pretty accessable to people here. He samples cartoons and collaborated with The Gorillaz. He does a lot of stuff with adult swim.

If you guys wanna listen to an actual talented rapper who has a foot in nerd culture without actually being Nerdcore, try out the guy who's gimmick is dressing up like a Fantastic Four villain.

[throwedgenji]

LIVE FREESTYLE RAPPING OVER YOUR BEATS & WORDS ON https://www.twitch.tv/throwedgenji

[kingmonsiuer]

Back Again!! Austin Tx Come out to @kickbuttcoffee to see another awesome night of performances for @nerdcore_dayz 2023🤓🎤🔥 Fol low the Artist: @shubzilla @joenovember @themicrophonemisfitz @kingmonsieurraps @richiebranson @noirgrime @laceyjohnsonmusic @gross._.angel @aka_swell_rell @mastersofunlockingband @otakuxunderworld @nerdcore_dayz @billbeats @mc_lars @lord _xzae @starfightermatt @spicypandastickers @philoniusphunk @mcohmi @twilldistilled #NerdCoreDayz #DjRockman #Rap #HipHop #Rapper #AustinTX #KingMonsieur #liveMusic #nerdcore #Pop #Rock #music #Dope #fun #trip #texas #2023 (at Kick Butt Coffee) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp3mIodso1H/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[infimace-blog]

I agree we need a different name for the music where people talk fast but aren't really rapping but everything I'm seeing about the term filk music is saying it's scifi and fantasy music regardless of genre

You can go with other names for it. Nerdcore, comedy music, parody music, fandom music. The point is that there are words for it because, even by the incredibly nebulous metrics of genre definition, there's an entire musical history behind something like The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate History (which is where I assume people are getting the 'lemon demon rapper' idea from) that is, and this is important, completely different from the history of rap which people are trying to push forward in the wake of the kendrick/drake beef.

I mentioned filk music in particular because, one, the focus on fast talking made it a workable analogue to rap in terms of needing technical and rhetorical skill to do with any measure of success, and two, filk songs are an obvious antecedent to a lot of Neil Cicierega's earlier work under the Lemon Demon name. Using TUSoUH as a way to sidestep the need to care about black music is disrespectful to black music and ignores where Neil C clearly does take musical inspiration from, your Weird Als, your Leslie Fishes, your Tom Lehrers, the history of music as satire, music as fandom, music as a derivation. It shows a stunning lack of interest in, not just black culture and its influence on pop, but on musical history in general.

I studied music in school once upon a time so this just gets to me. The development of music in this country is a beautiful clusterfuck of influences on influences, new instruments opening up new possibilities, economic and political factors influencing art which influence it back. I want y'all to care about rap history and its place in the wider scope of Afro-American history and politics, but also care about it and its place in the wider scope of music history. I want y'all to care about that more than winning a stupid argument about how nobody on this site knows anything about rap, which you shouldn't be trying to win because that's just true.

[sluttynurse]

nerdcore is so funny. what if we pretended that rappers don't like nerdy shit and took out all the stuff that makes rap great