Wednesday, March 17, 2010

MC Frontalot, ytcracker, Random, and Dangerously held a panel about the nerdcore hip-hop movement. Observe the above video taken during 101 session. That's ytcracker rapping while Dangerously beat-boxes.

First and foremost, these guys are great rappers. Nerdcore artists sometimes get labeled as parody artists or comedians, and taken less serious as "real" mainstream hip-hop artists.

But these guys are as real as anyone. Writers, as the cliche goes, should write what they know. The same applies to rappers. Some of the best hip-hop comes from honest artists who rap about everything from the smallest mundane detail to the most epic story, but keep every word honest and heartfelt. I'd say that's what makes "underground" hip-hop seem so genuine.

Nobody on the nerdcore panel tries to be nerdy on purpose. They're nerdy because they can't help it. Frontalot jokes that they've found a way to "take shame and misery and turn it into profit."

Still, the press hasn't figured out a way to cover these guys without appearing clueless. In "real life", Random is a middle school teacher, a huge video game nerd, and uses samples from old Capcom games in his songs. In fact, Capcom approached him and asked if they could officially endorse his music, something virtually unheard of in the music industry. It's a fascinating tale about a creative musician and a company that gets it.

But because Random is black, many music writers and journalists take a "No bling for this guy!" angle. A lot of that, he said, comes from the negative stigma associated with hip-hop. The moment someone approaches the genre from a perspective that deviates from "rims and bling", they're unfairly perceived as a novelty act. At the core of his music, Random is true to himself and creates compelling music and lyrics, yet he's unfairly positioned as some sort of hip-hop outsider.

I think the music industry at large could take a lesson from the artists involved in this style of honest, DIY music. It transcends hip-hop and crosses genre borders to rock musicians like Jonathan Coulton. The "big nerd conventions", as the panelists put it, are more lucrative than touring. Frontalot makes 25% of his annual income from selling merch at Penny Arcade.

While people the music industry lose their minds over the exaggerated and misrepresented ramifications of file sharing, these guys understand technology, their fans, and the future of making money in music. "It's not a pirating problem," Dangerously said, "it's a pirating opportunity." They use file-sharing tools to connect with people and turn them into fans. The music industry's stance? File-sharing tools a unilaterally evil, they must be all shut down, and the consumers who use them must be sent threatening letters.

What nerdcore rappers are doing, especially on the business side, is revolutionary. It's a shame they're marginalized as novelty acts. The people in this session have helped invent sustainable practices that artists of all styles and popularity can adopt. Why does the music industry continue to fight remarkable progress?