Nerdcore hip hop
Overview
 
Nerdcore hip hop, is a sub-genre of hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 characterized by themes and subject matter considered to be of general interest to nerd
Nerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...

s, though it can appeal to others as well. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot
MC Frontalot
Damian Hess , better known by stage name MC Frontalot, is a Brooklyn-based hip hop musician and self-proclaimed "world's 579th greatest rapper". He is best known in nerdcore hip hop and video game culture, for naming the nerdcore subgenre, and performing at Penny Arcades annual Penny Arcade Expo...

 has the earliest known recorded use of the term in the 2000 song "Nerdcore Hiphop". Frontalot, like most nerdcore artists, self-publishes his work and has released much of it for free online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....

. As a niche genre, nerdcore generally holds to the DIY ethic
DIY ethic
The DIY ethic refers to the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks oneself as opposed to having others who are more experienced or able complete them for one's behalf. It promotes the idea that an ordinary person can learn to do more than he or she thought was possible...

, and has a history of self-publishing and self-production.

Though nerdcore rappers rhyme about anything from politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

 to science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

, there are some perennial favorites in nerdcore subject matter, including Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, fantasy
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...

 and computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

s.

Music with similar themes, but different musical styles can be found in the filk genres.
Quotations

"This song goes out to those with coke bottle glasses, to all you lonely kids who were the last picked in gym classes. We got your back, detract your malefactors - all you up in the back, unite like Thundercats|Thundercats!"

2 Skinnee J's|2 Skinnee J's, "Riot Nrrrd" (1998)

"Nerdcore hip hop, other rappers run in fear..."

MC Frontalot|MC Frontalot, "Nerdcore Hiphop" (2000)

"I got brains, fuck Bs and Cs, I got a grade point average higher than Jimi Hendrix|Hendrix on New Year's Eve!"

mc chris|mc chris, "Geek" (2003)

"Look, I ain't Thomas Dolby|Thomas Dolby; science doesn't blind me. You think you're smart? Form a line behind me."

MC Hawking|MC Hawking, "What We Need More of Is Science" (2003)

"Nerdcore could rise up, it could get elevated; we consider the possibleness of this not overstated."

MC Frontalot, "Nerdcore Rising" (2005)

"Chilling like Hoth|Hoth, they can't touch us with they blasters, we learned at the feet of the masters - it's an old Jedi|Jedi mind trick!"

2 Skinnee J's, "Mind Trick" (1998)

"Sitting in her room upstairs, watching her wind up the buns in her hair, I declare that I'd like to be Luke Skywalker|Luke - unless that's a little bit too perverted for you."

MC Frontalot, "Yellow Lasers" (2001)

"My new home is a studio on Cybertron|Cybertron, my peeps are the Autobot|Autobeat poets, fuck the Decepticon|Wackacons!"

Optimus Rhyme|Optimus Rhyme, "Organix" (2004)

"And all you sucker Master of Ceremonies|MCs just can't compare to a Shire (Middle-earth)|Shire b-boy|b-boy with the shaggy hair, we're two hobbit|hobbit rappers with the savoire-faire, Rohirrim|Rohan Riders put your fist in the air!"

Lords of the Rhymes|Lords of the Rhymes, "Nine-Fingered Frodo|Frodo"

"For punk MCs who playa-hate, we got one word: Dalek|EXTERMINATE!"

MC Hawking, "Nerdcore Rising feat. Jesse Dangerously and MC Hawking.

 
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