SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/81866
Fame's Elusiveness Suits Nerdcore Rappers Just Fine by Thor Christensen N nerdy. But at least he has a bona fi de nerd excuse. "I was late calling because I was really into playing Impossible Mission on my Commodore simulator," erdcore rapper MC Frontalot is 15 minutes late for his interview, which doesn't seem particularly the "nerdcore" hip-hop term in 2000, he has become a geeksta kingpin to a small but thriving movement of mostly-white, high-voiced, four-eyed nerdling rappers. Nerdcore has spawned its own documen- tary fi lm (2008's Nerdcore for Life, which focuses on Frontalot) as well as festivals in Florida (the annual Nerdapalooza) and the Netherlands (2009's Glitched: Th e Nerdcore Event). Last year, SXSW Music featured a "Nerdcore 101" panel, and this year, will host a joint Interactive and Music nerdcore showcase featuring Frontalot and fellow nerd MCs, including YT Cracker, Schaff er the Darklord, Jesse Dangerously and Wordburglar. In a hip-hop world where braggadocio is everything, nerdcore rappers know it's not hip to be square, but they embrace squareness because it's all they have. "Nerdcore is about being trapped with an unfashionable voice and poor fashion sense and pretending that your shame is bravado," says the 37-year-old Frontalot, aka Damian Hess. It is also a refreshing antidote to mainstream rap's obsession with boasting, brand names and bling. Nerdcore artists are much more likely to bust a rhyme about science fi ction or classic works of lit- erature. MC Lars, for example, pays tribute to William Shakespeare ("Rapbeth"), Edgar Allan Poe ("Mr. Raven") and Herman Melville ("Ahab"). But perhaps the most recurring motif in nerdcore is video games. MC Chris, a rapper and a writer for the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, delved deep into the world of Dungeons & Dragons on his 2008 CD Dungeon Master of Ceremonies. YTCracker (pronounced "whitey cracker") constructed his entire 2005 CD NerdRap Entertainment System around music from the original Nintendo games. "Video games are nerd heroin— they take away the pain," says "Sorry. I'm a dork." But he's not just any dork. Since coining he explains. MC Frontalot a dorky teen. "In high school, I'd rather go to the library and read a fantasy book than go outside and throw balls or pick up large objects," he says. "I wanted to be taken away from this world where my peers were judging me all the time." Frontalot, who thinks the topic has become so common it has lost some of its mystique. "Nerds rapping about video games is no more fascinating than Perry Farrell singing about being a junkie." Nerdcore hip-hop may be a 21st century genre, but nerdism has always long part of pop music, from tongue-in-geek bandleader Spike Jones in the 1940s to Tiny Tim, Weird Al Yankovic and Th ey Might Be Giants. Rap had its own pre-millennial geek streak, including DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Th ird Bass and 2 Skinny J's, who had a minor hit in the '90s with "Riot Nrrd." But nerdcore as a style did not come about until 2000, when Frontalot, a Wesleyan grad with a degree in English, wrote the song "Nerdcore Hip-Hop," which was inspired partly by his experiences as 50 SXSW ORLD / M ARCH F ILM- I A 201 1 wore their geekiness with pride. As one fan explains it in Nerdcore For Life, "Th e goal is to be funny without being a joke." In 2009, Th e Daily Show humorist John Hodgman even referenced the genre at the White House correspondents dinner by asking "Is the President truly nerdcore? Or is it all just an act, as fake as those obvi- ously prosthetic ears?" Obama laughed. But even with a nerd in the Oval Offi ce, most of the country still isn't hip to nerdcore hip-hop. Frontalot used to be optimistic about mass fame, wondering in a 2005 song what "if nerdcore rose up and got elevated?/We consider the possibleness of this not overstated." Today, however, he says he has grown used to being largely ignored, including during the music portion of SXSW. "At Interactive, everybody stops me and takes my picture. It's defi nitely my people, with their socks showing over their dark shoes and their conversations about search engine optimization." In 2007, Nerdcore for Life director Dan Lamoureux told Newsweek, "I am not sure America is ready to accept a nerd rapper on MTV." Four years later, Frontalot says that isn't likely to change any time soon, in part because of the wacky term "nerdcore." "Th e misconception is that it's novelty music to be laughed at After college, he was happy to meet other hip-hop fanatics who briefl y and ignored ever afterward, not something that's to be con- sumed at Walmart," he says. "But that's fi ne with me. Th ere's a special way that nerds move hipness around, and by sidestepping the industry, it becomes all the more precious to the fans." ■ The Nerdcore showcase is Tuesday night, March 15 at Flamingo Cantina (515 E. 6th St.). Interactive and Music badges are both welcome.