Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jay-ell]

...about text adventures (featuring MC Frontalot). 

[Dexter]

Not to rain on your parade, but I really don't understand the appeal of nerdcore rap.  I like plenty of the things that are often the subject matter of nerdcore rap as much as the next guy, and I also like postmodernly referencing things as much as the next guy, but somehow nerdcore fails to really strike a chord with me.  Maybe I just find it disingenuous for a bunch of avowed dorks to co-opt rap/hip-hop for their own nerdy ends.  And I wonder whether a lot of the people who seem to be so fond of it actually appreciate it for its artistic merits (whatever those might be), or whether they're just barking like trained seals when they encounter something they're familiar with.

Also, I had a great deal of difficulty listening to MC Frontalot's voice.  It wasn't unpleasant to listen to, but I found it difficult to actually process it.  Most of the lyrics in that video sounded to me like an unintelligible string of phonemes unless I really concentrated, when they kinda-sorta actually began to resolve into words.  It was not entirely unlike being back in my college CS classes where the professors were from China and I had to actually concentrate on what they were saying to understand it (until I acclimated to their accents, anyway), except MC Frontalot doesn't have an unusual accent that I could discern.  Perhaps I have the brain worms.

[jay-ell]

I don't particularly like "It Is Pitch Dark" as a song, honestly.  Not his best work.  If you're new to the Front, you should check out his newest Achewood song -- Dude and Catastrophe.  IMHO it's much better, what with the tighter rhymes and a little actual singing tossed around for good measure. 

But, you might find his voice annoying, and that's cool.  I mean, hey, I don't like Mick Jagger.  To each his own.  Or nerdcore might just not be your style.  Whichever. 

I mostly posted this for linnea, who wondered aloud one time what the Front looks like.  Also because I have maximum crushes on Frontalot. 

But mostly for linnea. 

[Dexter]

If you're new to the Front, you should check out his newest Achewood song -- Dude and Catastrophe.

I actually did check that one out.  It's okay, but it didn't really do anything for me.  Maybe nerdcore, like you said, just isn't my style.  I certainly don't have anything against rap or hip-hop, or even white dudes (e.g., Alias, Sage Francis) performing same, and have been known to enjoy hip-hop and rap by artists of all colors.  But nerdcore?  Meh.  It feels forced somehow, much like when I initially phrased that as "it feels somehow forced".

But, you might find his voice annoying, and that's cool.

I don't find his voice annoying at all.  Like I said, my brain for some reason just had difficulty processing the sounds he was making as language.  This is not code for "dude has an annoying voice"; if I thought that were the case I'd just say so rather than making it sound like I have brain damage or something.

[theinevitable]

And I wonder whether a lot of the people who seem to be so fond of it actually appreciate it for its artistic merits (whatever those might be), or whether they're just barking like trained seals when they encounter something they're familiar with.

Um, this is why I hate Girl Talk. THIS IS NOT MUSIC, PEOPLE.

and yeah, I find nerdcore incredibly unappealing. I like... actual Rap.

I kind of like MC Paul Barman, but I don't think he's Nerdcore at all.

[jay-ell]

and yeah, I find nerdcore incredibly unappealing. I like... actual Rap.

I'm the opposite, there.  I don't like actual rap -- with the machismo and the posturing and the secret language of drugs and violence that I don't understand -- but nerdcore speaks to me.  I'm listening, and it's like, "Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!  He totally got golden showered by a star wars fangirl!" 

And life is awesome. 

[Doc]

I'm the opposite, there.  I don't like actual rap -- with the machismo and the posturing and the secret language of drugs and violence that I don't understand -- but nerdcore speaks to me.  I'm listening, and it's like, "Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!  He totally got golden showered by a star wars fangirl!" 

And life is awesome. 

This

[Ruta Bagas]

I'm curious to know whether inev considers "actual Rap" to be the stuff "with the machismo and the posturing and the secret language of drugs and violence"... I know I don't.

[theinevitable]

well, I mean, NWA does some of that. Mostly my rap knowledge is just Public Enemy.
I also like to dance to whatever they play at parties. Sorry, I know, the radio station I work at is bringing up formal charges for defaming them through my actions.
I am trying to learn more about Hyphy, because that stuff is awesome.

[linnea]

When I was working in Phoenix, the site was in town, and there is some sort of rule that the more offensive and shitty a particular song's lyrics are, the louder the driver must pump it. I have always known that there are rap lyrics that are horribly misogynistic...but being bombarded with them for 10 hours a day is just fuck*ng ridiculous. At least it wasn't a constant barrage.

[V-Adore]

With all due respect, JL, I don't get how Frontalot's lyrics really "speak to you," except in the sense that they relate more to your way of life than to another? I mean, the things he describes aren't really part of any nerd's life; a song about getting golden-showered at a Star Wars convention certainly isn't really representative of the nerd lifestyle (aside from maybe a few guys).

The thing that occasionally bothers me about nerdcore is how exploitative it feels. A lot of the lyrics come off as disdainful, gimmicky, or cheesy, without a lot of genuine sympathy for the people in the subculture or any real consideration of nerds as human beings. Maybe it's just my growing out of my Geek Pride phase and into a place where I don't want to be defined by my geekiness, but in terms of geek music, I vastly prefer people like Jonathan Coulton who can write songs that are still serious and considerate of real-life nerds.

[KeithHernandez]

A: I don't think inev ever said that

2: Inev, NWA basically invented that.

D: PE is the shit.

[theinevitable]

With all due respect, inev, I don't get how Frontalot's lyrics really "speak to you," except in the sense that they relate more to your way of life than to another? I mean, the things he describes aren't really part of any nerd's life; a song about getting golden-showered at a Star Wars convention certainly isn't really representative of the nerd lifestyle (aside from maybe a few guys).

yeah, um, I basically said that I don't like him. Rap is awesome, because it is the only musical genre that makes me think very much. I am not shitting you. "Why would... why would Ice Cube, say, want to fuck the police? oh, I guess it is because he's got it bad, 'cause he's brown. and not the other color, so police think they have the authority to..."
etc.

[V-Adore]

Dammit, I skimmed the thread and somehow parsed jl's post as belonging to you. Apologies, inev; I'll edit it.

[KeithHernandez]

Man n-ev, never ever trash Chuck D by putting him in a song written by NWA.  That is just wrong on so many levels, but mainly, PE and NWA were completely different.  One was in the style of the Nation of Islam etc, the other thugs.  And I like NWA.