A new breed of hip hop has emerged over the years, and in addition to dropping rhymes about street life, poverty, and fame, these rappers are also dropping names such as Tony Stark and Lupin the Third.
Musicians Institute student Michael Marshall, who goes by the alter ego Hellboy while rapping, has aspirations to become a successful rapper, while still maintaining his geek heritage.
“I think rap music in general is about talking about what you grew up with, so you can talk about comic books, toys and animation,” said Marshall. “That can then connect with other people.”
This movement was coined “Nerdcore” by MC Frontalot in his 2000 song “Nerdcore Hiphop.” The niche includes such underground artists as MC Chris, MF Doom, Optimus Rhyme, MC Lars, and has even transcended into mainstream hip hop, with Kanye West referencing the anime Lupin the Third and Ghostface Killa taking on the persona of both Ironman and Tony Stark.
Lx Luthor, also known as Alex Avery and one of Marshall’s producers, says that the music is more about relating with an audience then name dropping comic book characters.
“It brings a lighter side to the music,” said Avery. “With music in general, people listen to what they can relate with.”
Everybody knows about the story of Superman and his arch nemesis Lex Luthor, so according to Avery it made sense to adopt the alias Lx Luthor, as in most audiences would know what the reference meant.
A good number of Nerdcore rappers are unsigned and distribute their music online or through MySpace. MC Lars, though signed to a record label and having released 5 albums, still uses a MySpace page to promote his self proclaimed “post-punk laptop rap” and connect with fans.
“MySpace is good for music promotion for bands that are cross pollinating genres,” said Lars.
Marshall admits that while there are talented underground rappers who just happen to like to rap about less then mainstream material, there are also a number of less skilled artists who use the Nerdcore angle to broaden their potential audience.
“It’s like a mediocre band that becomes a Harry Potter band,” said Marshall.
Michael Marshall also says that if he is ever offered a record deal, he would consider changing his moniker Hellboy. This has more to do with avoiding legal conflict from the comic book’s creator than having to curb his geek image in order to appeal to a wider audience.
“You can do your mainstream thing, but you don’t have to be locked in to that exclusively,” said Marshall. “You can still do your Nerdcore thing. You don’t have to sacrifice your artistic integrity.”
