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The Dueling Nerdcore Documentaries 164

Posted by Zonk from the both-of-you-break-out-your-magic-deck dept.
Colin Reuter writes "There are not one but two feature-length documentary films in the works about the burgeoning nerdcore hip-hop scene. Nerdcore Rising from indie company Vaguely Qualified Productions in NY focuses on the founder of the "movement," MC Frontalot, and features MC Hawking, mc chris, Weird Al Yankovic, Brian Posehn, Daily Show personnel, and dozens of aspiring nerdcore rappers from around the country. The competing movie, Nerdcore For Life from Chicago's Crapbot Productions covers many of the same personalities, getting the backstory on more than twenty young nerd rappers including ytcracker, MC++, and Lords of the Rhymes. With two movies duking it out, the print edition of Wired profiling the rappers, and the Associated Press getting onboard, is nerdcore going to turn into a legitimate subgenre? Or will this always be our dirty little secret?"
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The Dueling Nerdcore Documentaries More

The Dueling Nerdcore Documentaries

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  • Is nerdcore going to become a legitimate subgenre? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by daveschroeder ( 516195 ) * on Friday December 15, 2006 @12:11PM (#17257550)
    No, and yes.

    Seriously, ANYTHING can be a "subgenre" of something, and you'll always be able to find someone or group out there who likes anything. The answer is, it's already a "subgenre".

    If the question is, "Will nerdcore ever be popular beyond my really small group of friends and I who never get laid?" then the answer is, "No."

    • Re:Is nerdcore going to become a legitimate subgen (Score:4, Insightful)

      by morgan_greywolf ( 835522 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @12:16PM (#17257654) Homepage Journal
      If the question is, "Will nerdcore ever be popular beyond my really small group of friends and I who never get laid?" then the answer is, "No."


      I don't know about that. The article mentions Weird Al Yankovich, who was nerdcore before there was name for it. He's made himself quite a living doing what he does and has gotten a whole lot of airplay. Will all nerdcore go as mainstream as Weird Al? No, but neither did all gangsta rap or all goth rock. But some of it snuck through, and I expect nerdcore will continue to grow in popularity. Do you know how many people I've heard with a fhqwgaads ringtone?

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Soygen ( 911358 )
        Those are just stupid nerds. They aren't emulating. ;)

      • The article mentions Weird Al Yankovich, who was nerdcore before there was name for it. He's made himself quite a living doing what he does and has gotten a whole lot of airplay.

        Yeah, on Dr. Demento. But only this year has he managed to get a single into the top 10, and it's White and Nerdy. I do think, like you, that it'll never be a major genre, but if it gets as big as gangsta rap, I'll be happy.

        BTW, nerd music is nothing new. The last time around it was Devo, Men Without Hats and Talking Heads. Be

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Perseid ( 660451 )
        Actually, Weird Al has made himself quite a living doing novelty songs, most of which are NOT rap. Remember Eat It? Sounds Like Nirvana? Not rap. If Weird Al had premiered with All About the Pentiums, would he be where he is now?
    • Some like Weird Al are already popular and others like MC Lars [mclars.com] are getting there. Their songs have mainstream appeal and do talk about other things than technology. They also don't get too overly technical with their songs that are more tech driven. However, others like ytcracker [ytcracker.com] who raps in java during one song are simply too geeky to be mainstream
    • I don't know about that...there are some bands out there that, even to the members themselves, defy classification. Take, for example, The Blood Brothers and also Liars. More often than not, I've seen these two bands simply refered to as 'other' or 'unknown', simply because there is nothing to legitimately compare it to, even after their having been around for a while.

      Of course, one could argue (and many do) that both bands are horrible and can only be qualified as 'crap', but still...not *everything* can
  • Rise up my fellow nerds for this is the day we always waited for, when we will be hailed as the new cool!

    Seriously though, as the tech industry companies already depend on us, why not get a little fun in the music industry.

    • Rise up my fellow nerds for this is the day we always waited for, when we will be hailed as the new cool!

      Ah, the epitome of nerd-dom. Nerds were the new cool a few years ago, but like true nerds, we all missed the trend. Brooklyn hipsters, even Manhattan hipsters, wore ill-fitting shirts, thick-rim glasses, etc. Messy hair, pale skin, all the easily identifiable nerd looks.

      Cool-in-an-ironic-way, like the ironic mullet that some hipsters sported until last year or so.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hal2814 ( 725639 )
      Hi, Derosian. I'm a nerd too. I just found that out tonight. We have news for the beautiful people. There's a lot more of us then there are of you.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )
      If you are waiting to be cool, you will never be cool.

      Question:
      You are in a room with:
      A black leather jacket, a sports coat and a priate shirt; Which one is cool?

  • Competing? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ripley29 ( 644468 ) <mchalm.yahoo@com> on Friday December 15, 2006 @12:18PM (#17257682)
    Why do these movies 'dueling' and 'competing'? Sounds like they're different takes on the same subject. Can't we watch both?

  • The only solution... (Score:3, Funny)

    by lawpoop ( 604919 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @12:22PM (#17257760) Homepage Journal
    ... is to have a VJ battle of the two documentaries and release the resulting mash-up.
  • Pimp Daddy Welfare still rocks over any nerd core.
  • the ON [Original Nerd (C)] Netmaster 10baseT [packetstormsecurity.org]?

  • Idiots (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 15, 2006 @12:33PM (#17257932)
    It only take a room full of idiots and a music exec. I suspect that we already have enough idiots and now all we need to do is wait for a music exec before we're stuck with another genre of crappy music. All hail the music industry for taking so many small time fads and turning them into massive trends for the masses. /optimism off

  • It's time (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Someone shoot me.
  • These sound interesting, but I have to wonder, if if they're released, where in the world will they be viewable? I mean, it's great that these are getting made, but pretty useless IMHO if the only place to see them is at some film festival that is inaccessible to the everyday person.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Woldry ( 928749 )
      Don't worry, they (and the inevitable sequels -- these ARE nerd movies, after all) are probably already available via torrent. ;-)

  • MC Chris (Score:1, Funny)

    by Hubbell ( 850646 )
    The true hero of sealab!
    Oh and...
    My backpack's got jets
    Cause I'm Boba the Fett

  • Shudder (Score:2, Redundant)

    by Reality Master 101 ( 179095 )

    ...and features MC Hawking, mc chris, Weird Al Yankovic, Brian Posehn, Daily Show personnel, and dozens of aspiring nerdcore rappers from around the country.

    Weird Al is NOT an aspiring "nerdcode" rapper, and PLEASE for the love of God don't lump the proven genius that is Weird Al with these other obscure whatever-the-hell-they-ares.

    • Weird Al is NOT an aspiring "nerdcode" rapper

      you're right. he's an ESTABLISHED nerdcore rapper. and if you don't think that "white and nerdy" or "all about the pentiums" do not qualify as nerdcore, then wtf does?
      • oops. double negative. sorry. my bad.

        and i even previewed first...god i suck.

      • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

        by TodMinuit ( 1026042 )
        He's done two parodies which could be considered nerdcore. He's also parody grunge, R&B, country, and so on. Does that mean he's an established grunge, R&B, country, and so on artist? I think not.

      • Re:Shudder (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Reality Master 101 ( 179095 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .101retsaMytilaeR.> on Friday December 15, 2006 @01:09PM (#17258468) Homepage Journal

        you're right. he's an ESTABLISHED nerdcore rapper. and if you don't think that "white and nerdy" or "all about the pentiums" do not qualify as nerdcore, then wtf does?

        A "nerdcore" rapper does music (to use the term loosely) in the style of rap -- that's their particular style. Weird Al does parody of music using the style of the original music. That he happens to do parodies of some rap songs does not making him an "aspiring" nerdcore rapper.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by geekoid ( 135745 )
          you would be right, except he wrote the lyrics, and they certianly deserve the title nerdcore.

          Plus, Wierd Al has been in the nerd culture as much as Monty Python, Douglas Adams, and video games.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jdbo ( 35629 )
          Why not simply agree that Weird Al has worked within and thus influenced the subgenre of nerdcore and leave it at that? It makes as little sense to say that "he's not a nercore" artist as "he's a nerdcore artist".

          Given the fact that "White & Nerdy" & "All About The Pentiums" are probably the most-heard nerd-oriented rap songs, it makes sense to recognize his contribution to the genre, even if he's not actively promoting it or identifying with it.

          I love stupid authenticity arguments. Arguments base

      • Re:Shudder (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Jerf ( 17166 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @01:13PM (#17258526) Journal
        Well, if having three or four good "nerdcore" songs makes Weird Al a "nerdcore artist", then he's also a gangsta rapper and a pop musician and swing singer (or whatever you'd call that) and folk singer and apolka singer and a hip-hop artist and a Grunge artist and... you get the point.

        I question the utility of labeling him that way. "Parodist" covers it best.
    • Reading comprehension is a critical skill.

      features MC Hawking, mc chris, Weird Al Yankovic, Brian Posehn, Daily Show personnel, and dozens of aspiring nerdcore rappers from around the country.

      Note the statement does not say "and dozens of other aspiring nerdcore rappers".

  • On his own throne, the boss like King Koopa (Score:3, Interesting)

    by spezz ( 150943 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @12:36PM (#17258006)
    MF Doom [wikipedia.org] should be in this list. He's more "real" rap I suppose because he's got more street cred and Melanin than some of those listed, but he wears a damn Dr. Doom mask and has a whole supervillain persona.

    Plus he's got Stan Lee samples on his albums. How dorky is that?

    Also, have the older "rap is crap" crowd taken the day off because usually these stories have whole threads about how music died in the 60's?

    • Music died after the 70's. :-)

      But what does "music" have to do with rap? :-) :-)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )
        as opposed to all the wonderfull noise that came out of the 70's.*CoughDiscoDuckcough*

        Sure some was great, but most was crap and lost in time. Like all eras of music.

    • Also, have the older "rap is crap" crowd taken the day off because usually these stories have whole threads about how music died in the 60's?
      zzzzzzz......zzzzzzzz......

      zzzz{snarf}wwha...what? Who's there? Oh yeah rap sucks, Zeppelin rules, i'm going back to be...zzzzzzzz
    • >Also, have the older "rap is crap" crowd taken
      >the day off because usually these stories have
      >whole threads about how music died in the 60's?

      Maybe this stuff is so lame that it doesn't even
      deserve comment :) Rap, after all, has enough
      substance to be a worthy opponent ...

      After all, this stuff is *designed* to be crap
      (but *ironic* crap: "no, really, I'm not trying
      lamely to act hip and cool by rapping, it's
      ironic! It's beyond criticism!") :p

      Weird Al, BTW, is exempt from the above ... he's
      old enough
    • I love Doom and Danger Mouse (1/2 of Gnarls Barkley and 1/2 of Dangerdoom), but neither belong on this list. Both are excellent musicians and producers that sample some somewhat nerdy tracks and also dress up in cool outfits (see any Gnarls Barkley performance for an example) whenever they get a chance, but that doesn't make it nerdcore. If Jay-Z wore a superman cape and sampled the Batman song, that wouldn't make him nerdcore either. I think the thing that qualifies people as nerdcore is the content of

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by The-Bus ( 138060 )
      I think MF Doom does sort-of deserve to be on that list. I mean he did an entire album as King Geedorah [wikipedia.org] (spelling slight altered). He's also do an album with Danger Mouse as "Danger Doom" which included samples from Adult Swim cartoons like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Aqua Teen Hunger Force (on which mc chris, mentioned in TFA, has appeared).

      But nerdcore, to some extent, has been around for a while. There was a band called Commodore 64 that released a "nerdcore" album in 1999 called The K-Minus Initiati

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pope ( 17780 )
      "Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974. It's a scientific fact."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by metlin ( 258108 )
      Also, have the older "rap is crap" crowd taken the day off because usually these stories have whole threads about how music died in the 60's?

      No, no. We are all right here.

      Rap isn't crap, please. Crap has some uses, it could be used as manure, to make biodiesel etc etc.

      But rap? Bah.

      Kids these days. Back in my day, we had to cut our trees, build our instruments and then play our instruments and sing along, if we wanted some music.

      Oh wait, I said music. This is about rap. Never mind.

      You were talking about that
      • I think this comment makes you officially old. That fits in fine on slashdot, but much as your parents probably thought (Prince/Jimi Hendrix/The Beatles/Elvis) was just noise, that is where you are. Just be aware of it before you judge.
  • He stole his name from Petey Pablo. Optimus Rhyme was one of Petey's earlier monikers.

    Bad start for a rapper , where originality is everything.

    On the other hand, GREAT FUCKING NAME !

    I learned all of this from TV, behind the music or some documercial.

  • Founder?!?? (Score:2, Informative)

    by Buddy_Gilapagos ( 583062 )
    What about MC Paul Barman, Infesticons (and their alter egos the Majesticons), even El-P and Company Flow have been delving in these realms for years. Check them out if you never heard of them, you may like them even if you are not a fan of hip-hop.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dthree ( 458263 )
      Where Frontalot and other rap about geeky things, I would say that Barman is geeky about rapping and wordplay. His subject matter is not overtly geeky but the amount of dedication he has to the craft of rhyming it astounding.

    • And to quote MC Hawking,

      Front coined the term but I make the claim
      To be the progenitor of the nerdcore flow
      So for all you nerds who be new to the show
      You only exist with the Hawk's permission
      But that's all good if you're down with the Hawk
      So come on everybody it's time to rock!
  • "...is nerdcore going to turn into a legitimate subgenre? Or will this always be our dirty little secret?"

    As long as these dudes start buying their beats from me, I could care less if it becomes "legit" or not.
  • If you are reading about Nerdcore Documentaries on Slashdot, then suspect no longer, you rival all of your friends in the world of geekdom.

    Alas, I honestly feel the need to go out and do something 'cool' now that doesn't involve computers, WoW, etc.

  • The nerdcore genre is going to fizzle... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Peter Trepan ( 572016 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @12:56PM (#17258280)
    ...cause my geekcore genre is the mad shizizzle. My geekcore rhymes are fresh and fly, 'cause they're written by a Lisp-powered strong AI. And my DJ skills are so off the hook, they be askin' me to write the O'Reilly book. Y'all test my songs while they're still in beta, and don't be no RPG playa hata. If all y'all hear me, wave your hands and say: G to tha E to tha E to tha K.
  • Couldn't you say that nerdcore is the burgeoning musical outlet for a subculture that already exists? Or in specifically musical terms... if a movement of music doesn't neatly fit into any classications of genres that exist already, especially if it takes elements of genres that exist already, would that define a new (sub or no) genre of music? This is a tendency that's especially prevalent within electronica. Which comes first? The genre or the subculture?
  • i don't really know what to think about all this. i mean White and Nerdy hit a little close to home. Now they're making documentaries? what part of recluse don't they understand? If i wanted to be cool, i'd have learned to play guitar instead of asm.

  • MC Lars? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by InfoVore ( 98438 ) on Friday December 15, 2006 @01:09PM (#17258466) Homepage
    While not strictly Nerdcore, I'd say MC Lars [wikipedia.org] should be included. He's more of a literature geek, but his stuff is definitely White & Nerdy rap. He bills his work as "post-punk laptop rap". A few of his songs:

    - Download This Song [youtube.com]
    - iGeneration
    - Space Game
    - If I Had a Time Machine
    - Mr. Raven (based on Poe's "The Raven")
    - Internet Relationships
    - Ahab
    - Signing Emo

    Give him a try. His stuff is fun.

    I.V.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )
      what is it with all the non technical geeks trying to jump onto our nerd band wagon?
      Get off or we'll make your tivo only record PBS...During Donations week.

      Get your own literature 'geek' band wagon. Sheesh.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by slapout ( 93640 )
      I agree. I recently discovered him. Some of his stuff I like and some I don't. But everyone on slashdot should listen to "Download this song." It sums up how most people here feel about the record companies.

  • So will there be a beef between linux rappers and Windows rappers?

    If MC Ubuntu gets shot I know it was Windows 2000 PAC that did it.

    Are there lyrics licensed under GPL?

    Windows 2000 PAC

    I spit mad rhymes without taking a breath,
    Any sucka MC's that step to me will see my blue screen of death!

    It's necessary that my style is proprietary,
    All you bitches running MAC are straight up wack.

    MC Ubuntu

    Of course my flow is open source.
    I know you like it so,
    Download and burn my ISO

    I aint no sucka MC
    you can d

  • I first got started on nerdcore with MC Chris. I didn't even know it as nerdcore then. Some time later I discovered there were more artists doing this kind of music. Forget how I heard of them, probably IRC. Started off with the Rhymetorrent site. Its stuff I can relate to and the beats are actually good. Its nice to see that its growing. I look forward to watching the 2 films. Best of all most of the nerdcore artists give their music away for free. If you haven heard of them, check out Futuristic Sex Rob
  • When I was picking the music to use for a crap geekcast [locnetwork.com] I was am doing I was asked "Don't you want to use nerd core?" I gave the guy a dirty look even though I subscribe to a Nerdcore Podcast [podshow.com].
    It is a good novelty but I just can't take it seriously. I have seen serious and funny nerdcore but I haven't seen any nerdcore that hits like Nirvana, NWA, Artie Shaw or even Neil Diamond. Maybe one day but not yet.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )
      "I haven't seen any nerdcore that hits like Nirvana, NWA, Artie Shaw or even Neil Diamond."
      Great, for you, but really it doesn't mean shit because what what you find 'hits' doesn't apply to anyone else.

      I am assuming you mean the way it 'hits' you, and not 'hits' as in top 100.

      Cause none of those group you listen 'hits' me in any way. It's all Booooooring. Yes even Neil Diamond.

      • It's all Booooooring. Yes even Neil Diamond.

        Dude, you are so off Neil Diamond's Christmas card list after a remark like that. Just pray he doesn't come rolling up to your house with his crew.

        I've seen it before. It's not pretty. ND on the 1-8-7 gat tip, boooyyyy!

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by geekoid ( 135745 )
          ND can bring it on!

          He's just a PR shill of DaBeers! :)

          Smily added for the humor impaired.
  • Nerd enough to read "Brian Posehn" as "Brian Posleen."

    But not nerd enough to know what the hell "nerd core" is. Weird Al is nerd core? MC Hawking is more than a gag, it's representative of a musical style?

    I must be getting old. /me turns on Exile On Coldharbour Lane
  • Have links to .mp3s of your songs.
    Rule two of nerdcore rap:
    Be sure the fucking links work.

  • Oh wait, I mean... Word!
  • ...my homie Luke Ski [lukeski.com].
  • http://www.ocremix.org/ [ocremix.org] Having downloaded torrents of NerdCore and OCRemix torrents I can honestly say I prefer OCremix stuff better. Sure there is little 'singing' with it but the majority is a lot less offensive. I prefer my music suitable for all ages.
  • 1) Isn't success in Nerdcore self-defeating? Isn't the whole point that they're just a bunch of geeks with Acid and a mic? If one got signed by a major label would he really be nerdcore anymore? 2) While there are talented rappers in the mix, most of this stuff is terrible. Absolutely, unbeleivably horrible. And the ones that are good are usually only good because they're funny. How can that be considered legitimate?

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