History Main / Nerdcore

* [[http://www.2sj.com 2 Skinnee J's]] have been doing nerdcore music, off and on, since 1991. Their biggest hit, "Riot Nrrrd", was created as a nerd anthem of sorts, and other songs in their repertoire touch on subject matter such as being afraid to talk to girls, Franchise/StarWars, Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, martial arts films, and Pluto's status as a planet.

See also HeavyMithril, for when nerds forgo rapping about consoles for rocking about fantasy, and {{Filk}} for the folksy alternative sort. ComicsRuleEverythingAroundMe is the mainstream equivalent.

* {{Devo}} may be considered the UrExample. Especially with songs like "Penetration In The Centrefold" and "Speed Racer".

* [[http://dontmesswithdinosaurs.com/?page_id=17 The Historian Himself]] (AKA Brian Engh) got known primarily for rapping about, of all things, {{Kaiju}} attacks, but he also covers a broad area of other (primarily supernatural) subjects.

Nerdcore is a subgenre of HipHop; the term "Nerdcore" is a portmanteau of "Nerd" and "Hardcore". Music that can be considered Nerdcore usually involves subjects which most [[{{Muggle}} "normal"]] people would consider...well, ''nerdy'', such as ScienceFiction, {{Anime}}, and others. Nerdcore isn't automatically HipHop; nerdcore had clear influences from geek culture as well, including geek rockers like TheyMightBeGiants, parodists like Music/WeirdAlYankovic (who released "It's All About The Pentiums" in 1999 and "White & Nerdy" in 2006), and others. Despite these influences, Nerdcore has separated itself from other types of nerdy music thanks to an unofficial list of criteria that has evolved among fans and artists. Aside from making hip-hop about geeky things, Nerdcore is considered to be an 'Opt-in' genre. Only artists who consider themselves to be "Nerdcore" should have the label attached to their music.

In the summer of 2004 the fledgling genre took a large step forward when the popular web comic PennyArcade held its first convention, The Penny Arcade Expo, in Bellevue, WA. Though the expo was primarily devoted to video and tabletop gaming, geek-friendly musicians also performed, including Optimus Rhyme and Penny Arcade's "rapper laureate" MC Frontalot. There's also an annual festival held in the summer in [[UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} Orlando, Florida]], called [[http://nerdapalooza.org/ Nerdapalooza]], that helps showcase Nerdcore acts alongside other "nerd music" genres.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MC_Hawking MC Hawking]]: The stage name of Ken Leavitt-Lawrence. Using the now-defunct text-to-speech program "Willow Talk" and with the help of DJ Doomsday for the beats, he blends traditional gangsta rap with advanced scientific topics. His name and act are a parody of -- and have been repeatedly praised by -- StephenHawking.

* Though not part of the Nerdcore scene, several Underground Hip Hop artists have ventured into Sci-Fi territories in their search for fresh, "bitches 'n' bling"-cliche-free ground. The most popular work of this kind is probably {{Deltron 3030}}'s eponymous concept album.

* TheAquabats take the rock approach, and many of their songs are more about just being nerdy then anything specifically nerdy. They recently got their [[TheAquabatsSuperShow own TV show]]. {{Series/Batman}} and [[GiantRobo Johnny Sokko and his Giant Robot]] were listed as direct influences.

* [[http://dontmesswithdinosaurs.com/?page_id=17 The Historian Himself]] (AKA Brian Engh) got known primarily for about, of all things, {{Kaiju}}. His songs also have a tendency to get somewhat sciency, mainly going into archeology, geology, and even paleontology.

* The Historian Himself (AKA Brian Engh) got known primarily for about, of all things, {{Kaiju}}. His songs also have a tendency to get somewhat sciency, mainly going into archeology, geology, and even paleontology.

* Music/ChildishGambino shouts out a lot of nerdy subjects, including ''{{TRON}}'', ''InvaderZim'', ''Pokémon'', ''AdventureTime'' (which he actually had a guest role on), ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', Kurt Vonnegut, internet memes and much, much more.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/user/area11band Area 11]]: Not only being part of the Yogscast (partially), they're basically a geeky band. For example, their first album (All The Lights In The Sky) feautures 11 songs, with 6 of them having some kind of reference to an anime: two songs for CodeGeass, one for ElfenLied, one for DeathNote, one for CowboyBebop and one for TengenToppaGurrenLagann. Even thought it's technically Power Pop, still, it's preety darn impressive.

* [[http://www.adamwarrock.com/ Adam WarRock]] is a nerdcore hip-hop artist who is responsible for the Firefly themed "Browncoats" mixtape with Mikal kHill, as well as other solo albums and mixtapes.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MC_Hawking MC Hawking]]: The stage name of Ken Leavitt-Lawrence. Using the [[TooGoodToLast now-defunct]] text-to-speech program "Willow Talk" and with the help of DJ Doomsday for the beats, he blends traditional gangsta rap with advanced scientific topics. His name and act are a parody of -- and have been repeatedly praised by -- StephenHawking.

* [[http://www.2sj.com 2 Skinnee J's]] have been doing nerdcore music, off and on, since 1991. Their biggest hit, "Riot Nrrrd", was created as a nerd anthem of sorts, and other songs in their repertoire touch on subject matter such as being afraid to talk to girls, StarWars, {{Godzilla}}, martial arts films, and Pluto's status as a planet.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/user/area11band Area 11]]: Not only being part of the Yogscast (partially), they're basically a geeky band. For example, their first album (All The Lights In The Sky) feautures 11 songs, with 6 of them having some kind of reference to an anime: two songs for CodeGeass, one for ElfenLied, one for DeathNote, one for CowboyBebob and one for GurrenLagan. Even thought it's technically Power Pop, still, it's preety darn impressive.

In the summer of 2004 the fledgling genre took a large step forward when the popular web comic PennyArcade held its first convention, The Penny Arcade Expo, in Bellevue, WA. Though the expo was primarily devoted to video and tabletop gaming, geek-friendly musicians also performed, including Optimus Rhyme and Penny Arcade's "rapper laureate" MC Frontalot. There's also an annual festival held in the summer in [[{{Florida}} Orlando, Florida]], called [[http://nerdapalooza.org/ Nerdapalooza]], that helps showcase Nerdcore acts alongside other "nerd music" genres.

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** MoodWhiplash: On the album This Gigantic Robot Kills, there's a break in the usual hilarity for a TearJerker song about his friend's suicide. Then it jumps back right into the usual funny Nerdcore rap.