solipsistic NATION No.4: Nerdcore
September 22, 2006
When solipsistic NATION was broadcast over the air I was limited by our station’s ramshckle software and hardware. Even doing a decent segue, so essential to electronic music, was difficult to pull off. When I made the decision to relaunch solipsistic NATION as a podcast I wanted to be ambitious and pursue the projects I could never do at Free Radio San Diego.
From time to time I will release documentaries on a specific genre of electronic music and to get things started, this week’s solipsistic NATION features a documentary on Nerdcore.
Nerdcore hip hop, or geeksta rap, is a subgenre of hip hop music that is performed by nerds or geeks, and is characterized by themes and subject matter considered to be of general interest to nerds. Nerdcore has no unifying musical manifesto, and the sound of nerdcore varies wildly from artist to artist. One common theme, especially in the early days of the genre, is uncleared sampling.
MC Frontalot
MC Frontalot is the stage name of Damian Hess, a hip hop musician and self-proclaimed “world’s 579th-greatest rapper.”
Many consider Frontalot, if not the founder of nerdcore, certainly the man who shone the torch on it. Front himself though is quick to point out the many artists who came before him.
Ultraklystron
Ultraklystron is a staff writer/producer for ToonZone.net. He is also Nerdcore’s expert on all things anime and manga. Ultraklystron is currently a CS student but represents the Otaku lifestyle in his work.
Ultraklystron’s most recent release is Revision4920. Through some unexplainable twist of events, it actually did better than any of his previous individual efforts to sell my music before and resulted in some interesting media attention.
High-C
High-C is a programmer, writer, rapper, metalhead, inventor and long time nerd. There are probably 10 High-Cs, one in the same state as him. There’s even a punk band named High-C.
High-C has released the seminal nerdcore compilation CDs, Rhyme Torrents volumes 1-4. He is currewntly hard at work assembling Rhyme Torrents volume 5 which, with any luck, will be released any moment.
YTCracker
YTCracker began producing rap music in 1998 in the genre that has since become known as nerdcore hip hop. His early work mainly focused on documenting and amusing the participants of the America Online hacking scene.
YTCracker is a self-proclaimed “jack of all trades”, also making a name for himself as a professional disc jockey, computer programmer, graphics designer and webmaster.
funky49
Using two boomboxes and a Casio SK1 keyboard, funky49 came up with audio projects for school and personal use as a teenager. He also ran sound for a stage production in a drama class and made Amiga MOD tracker songs on the computer.
funky49 is the official tour DJ for Spinal Tap. As soon as a new drummer is found, tour dates will be released.
Ham-STAR
Ham-STAR is the world’s greatest hamster rapper. Accept no imitations, burdened by the limitations of spitting out lines not from their own mind. Unlike the others, Ham-STAR doesn’t do covers. He drops his own fresh rhymes, every time.
His biggest influence is Blackalicious, whose “improptu rapping about food is a hotter cut than half the shiny mass-produced (c)rap out there today.”
Beefy
If you’re a pretty lady willing to send Beefy pictures of yourself scantily clad he will do anything you ask. He’ll also do it for some duckets, cause he’s a big sellout.
Beefy geeks out by drawing comic. However, with the music becoming the biggest part of his life, comics have gone on the back burner. He still doodles and a new comic may not be too far off.
Photo Credit: Ludwig van Jaethoven
- MC Frontalot “Goth Girls”
- Ultraklystron “There’s The Beef (Ft. MCeeP)”
- Meter Versus Yard “Divided States (Kid Charlamaign Bass Remix)”
- YTCracker “Legacy”
- funky49 “Never Going Back (to Dialup)”
- Ham-STAR “Legend of Ham-STAR”
- Beefy “I Don’t Wanna Be Right”
Download episode.
1:00:00 | 54.96 MB
Comments
16 Responses to “solipsistic NATION No.4: Nerdcore”
[...] As in, another podcast interviewed me, namely Solipsistic Nation an excellent podcast featuring some great music and great interviews. I’m pretty boring, but MC Frontalot puts forth the most poetic description of nerdcore I’ve seen, while the rest of the artists featured also put forth some great thoughts and decribe their interesting and colorful histories. If you like nerdcore, you’ll like podcast episode. Besides, it has MC Frontalot, YTCracker, Beefy, High-C, Funky49 and Ham-STAR on it too, so it even has nerdcore rappers that have recieved mainstream media attention. [...]
[...] Many times after finishing an episode of Just Another Lazy Podcast, I turn to my co-hosts and say, “You know what that is? Quality podcasting!” This is a total lie each and every time I say it, because JALP has no business being in the same sentence as the word quality. There are podcasts out there however that do go above and beyond in giving you entertainment while only using sounds, and the latest episode of SolipsisticNation.com is almost 100% quality podcasting. Bazooka Joe, the host of this ragin’ cast, was kind (or unwise) enough to interview me and play one of my songs. My part is at the very end, but you can also hear from other nerdcore rappers I’ve met like MC Frontalot, YT Cracker, and Ultraklystron. [...]
This is a total top chakra look at a very underground genre of music. On a macroscopic scale, this is a very well done and entertaining piece. On a microscopic scale, you’ve managed to edit me so that I display some level of articulation. Much thanks. I loved listening about the other artists from their own mouths. It’s very genuine and real. Great stories guys. Props and respect to Front, Karl, High-C, YT, Ham-STAR and Beefy. Cool tech/scifi sounds in stereo throughout!! DOWNLOAD THIS NOW OR YOU’LL DIE!
funky49,
Glad you liked the show!
Actually, I didn’t have to edit you down too much. Ultrakystron, on the other hand, is a conversation that walks like a man :-)
Download or die, huh? Sounds like something Puff Daddy would say. I may have use that as my official tag line.
Bazooka Joe
Brilliant. This is a great introduction/overview, and “behind the scenes” peek all in one. Everyone sounded pretty much as I expected, except for YTcracker, who sounds a bit geekier than his rap persona. ; ) funky was right, the production is excellent. My phone sounds as crappy as my mic. ; )
Great job. Thanks a lot for interviewing me.
[...] Last week’s Nerdcore show got a tremendous amount of responses from listeners, I’m pleased to say!I’m really proud of that episode because first of all, it was a great show and, secondly, it is the start of the slow mutation that will occur on solipsistic NATION. [...]
[...] PRESS: G4 Loves Beefy Hipster, Please Interview The Horrible Wired Article G4 Really Loves Beefy solipsistic NATION podcast interview Proudly Serving My Corporate Masters Kirkland Review The Accidental Nerd talks about Beefy Bookazine Says Beefy Has A Good Song [...]
[...] Previous episodes of solipsistic NATION have included shows on house music, chill out music, drum and bass and hip hop. There have also been documentaries on nerdcore and chiptunes, a mix by guest DJ Eve Falcon and a live performance by Deru. The show has also included interviews with Rena Jones, Grouse, and Dielectric Records. [...]
Hi,
Just wanted to thank you for the nerdcore hip-hop episode. I had heard of the genre a while ago, read an article about it in the French media, but never took the time to actually listen to any of it. I’m a big fan of hip-hop and a nerd (I’ll defend my PhD thesis next year) so this is very, very cool. Thanks for including the artists’ explanations, it was a perfect introduction for newbies like myself.
I host the only English-language podcast on French hip-hop (http://www.yolala.org)and I’d really appreciate if you gave it a listen. The latest episode has no music and is a rather long interview, but if you like electronica you should enjoy episodes 8, 9 and 10.
Keep up the good work!
Thomas
Host of Yo La La! The French Rap Podcast
http://www.yolala.org
Thomas,
Thanks so very much for the kind words!
I’ve been trying to put out one documentary on a sub-genre of electronic music a month on my show and the nerdcore hip hip episode was my first attempt. As you can imagine, I’m rather proud of that show. I’m glad you enjoyed it because it makes projects like that one even more worth while.
I’m looking forward to listening to your show today!
ciao,
Bazooka Joe
[...] Back in September I released a documentary about nerdcore on solipsistic NATION. That epsiode got such an overwhelming response that I thought it was time do another show on the genre. Besides, I identify more with songs about video games and comic books than songs about drive-by shootings and smacking bitches. [...]
[...] On solipsistic NATION I play for you the absolute best of all genres of electronic music. From time to time I do shows that feature documentaires on a specific genre of electronic music such as Nerdcore or Chiptunes. I’ve also interviewed bands and musicians and record labels and played music from live performances. [...]
[...] On solipsistic NATION I play for you the absolute best of all genres of electronic music. From time to time I do shows that feature documentaires on a specific genre of electronic music such as Nerdcore or Chiptunes. IÂ’ve also interviewed bands and musicians and record labels and played music from live performances. [...]
[...] In the last year I’ve done documentaries on Nerdcore and Chiptunes. I’ve featured live performances from Deru and Robert Rich. I’ve had guest DJs on the show such as Wayz and Eve Falcon, I’ve also interviewed people from record labels such as Nacional Records and Extreme Records and more recently I interviewed Vivian Host, the editor of XLR8R magazine. [...]
[...] When I relaunched solipsistic NATION as a podcast one of the first shows I did was a documentary about Nerdcore. Shortly afterwards I learned that Negin Farsad was also working on a documentary about the genre called Nerdcore Rising. The documentary was recently released and I knew I had to get Negin on the show to talk about her documentary. [...]
[...] time to time I do shows that feature documentaires on a specific genre of electronic music such as Nerdcore or Chiptunes. [...]