Disrespectin' Nerdcore

Suggested listening for this blog: "Nerd Alert!" by The Aquabats!

You'd think that for all my talk about the need for more happy music, I'd be Mr. Positivity, but this is not the case. Right now, I'd like to talk about something that I'm not inclined to be at all positive about: Nerdcore Rap. (aka "Geeksta") This genre includes such streed un-credited white boys as MC Frontalot, MC Chris, MC Lars and Optimus Rhyme. Don't get me wrong, I love nerds, nerdiness and all types of nerdity; I consider myself to be a "nerd," I've lip synched (and performed a dance routine) to "White And Nerdy" for a competition at school and I enjoy Magic the Gathering. I also like geek rock, (bands like Weezer, They Might Be Giants, Devo, etc.) but I just can't get into Nerdcore.

The main problem I have with the genre is the same problem I have with Gangsta/Crunk Rap, Christian Rock and Wizard Rock: severely limited subject matter. I can't understand how any musician can decide that they will devote all of their creative energy into such a limited range of topics. I'll admit that I don't have enough listening experience within the genre to really make a call here, but all the songs I've heard from MC Frontalot (apparently the godfather of Nerdcore) have to do with either (a) being a nerd, or (b) being MC Frontalot, the latter of which falls prey to the bane of all rap: Self-Referenciality. (i.e. rapping only about yourself and how awesome you are, which gets really old really fast) I could be completely wrong about all of this, but I'm not going to waste my time wading through all the crap to find the good stuff, so unless someone wants to point me in the right direction, I'll keep disin' on Nerdcore.

The one exception to the "Nerdcore sucks" rule is MC Lars, who revels in his nerdyness, while freely ranging over any topic he pleases, from litterature ("Ahab," rhyming about Moby Dick) to music in general ("Signing Emo" and "Download This Song") to the times we live in ("iGeneration") to more nerdy topics like the internet ("Internet Relationships (Are Not Real Relationships)") and his own whiteness. ("White Kids Aren't Hyphy") MC Lars proves that it's possible to be your nerdy self without being confined to a narrow topic set, and I'd be glad to hear about more rappers (and musicians) like that. Peace out, Homeslice!