All hail nerdcore

It's likely that you've never heard of nerdcore.

The word is another one of those genre words that's combined from other genres and words (like emo, screamo, shoegaze, nu-gaze, bitpop, tri-hop and a million others).

Anyway, nerdcore is basically hip-hop and rap, but it's done (mostly) by white guys and it's (mostly) about stuff like Star Wars, comic books and video games.

In my opinion, most of it is pretty terrible. But there are a few shining stars out there, including MC Frontalot and mc chris (Chris performs Oct. 15 at the Waiting Room).

mc chris, for example, is no Jay-Z, but he's pretty good if you like hearing raps about Boba Fett and arcades. Some of the rhymes are genuinely good ("I'm nice, and sweet/and I shower twice a week./Kids diggin' on my speak/cuz I represent the geeks" from "Falynn") while others are just funny ("My backpack's got jets/Well I'm Boba the Fett/Well I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt/To finance my 'Vette' from "Fett's Vette").

Today marks the release of the documentary, "Nerdcore Rising," which follows around Frontalot on tour and features other nerdcore-ists. It also features interviews with comedian Brian Posehn and Weird Al Yankovic as well as some actual rappers.

There are a few things made clear by the trailer: 1. These guys really are nerds. 2. They're really passionate about what they do. 3. Their fans, also nerds, absolutely love this stuff.

Here's a few tunes:
"Nrrrd Grrrl" by mc chris"


"Final Boss" by MC Frontalot"