Gangsta is dead. Grime is a bore. There’s a new beat on the street and it’s called Nerdcore. This geeky hip hop subgenre, also dubbed CS rap (that’s computer science, yo!), is finally booting up with the release of Rhyme Torrents, a compilation featuring the work of more than 50 men – and even a few ladies – who bust rhymes (and C++ code). The collection is free online, so none of the artists make bank. Like all true playa MCs, they did it for the street cred. Of course, in the CS rap arena that means a Wikipedia entry, and you can’t get one of those without an official album release. Here are a few of the overclocked hustlas you can find at nerdcorehiphop.org.

Nerdcore All-Stars

MC FRONTALOT

When not touring with DJ CPU (his sampler), this original nerdsta writes rhymes for Sesame Workshop. Haters diss him for being a mere Web designer, not a true coder.

Sample: “Step to my DJ, you better step prepared / He got (28 + 22/50)2.”

HAM-STAR

With his ode to Firefox plug-ins, this former high school math team captain won the 2006 BBspot Annual Geek Limerick Contest.

Sample: “I’m a player, which is not to say I get a lot of chicks / But I’ve played through Final Fantasy 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6.”

OPTIMUS RHYME

These rapping robots in disguise cribbed their mythos from Transformers. They aim to rid the world of “wackacons” – purveyors of repetitive loops and lackluster DJing.

Sample: “You are a troller! One-week ban / I know your other screen name, man.”

HIGH-C

Watch out – this rebel with a DOS has been banned from Slashdot, Fark, Everything2, and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette honors program.

Sample: “Cuz I can kick it in Algol, roll it up in a Snobol / Anything from Ruby all the way back to Cobol.”

BEEFY

When he’s not rhyming, he’s slingin’ 20-sided dice with his role-playing posse. He invites all the fly females to check out his funky-fresh Flash cartoons at albinoblacksheep.com.

Sample: “Dear Internet, you’ve pwned my life / And if you had an orifice I’d make you my wife.”

FUNKY49

Missed his senior prom to do inventory at RadioShack. Still not geeky enough for you? He also completed his CompTIAA+ certification in 11 minutes. Aw, snap!

Sample: “When I had a modem it was hella exotic / Now high bandwidth is my narcotic.”

YTCRACKER

He could program Basic at age 4. He hacked the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Web site at age 17. And he even has a writing credit on Too Short’s “Pimpandho.com.”

Sample: “My rhymes flow just like my code / Even though my source is owned by SCO.”

SUCKLORD

When he’s not making illegal remix records, he’s working on a line of bootleg Star Wars figures. Sucklord also represented on VH1’s Can’t Get a Date.

Sample: "Hobbits is wack! We got them on lock / Comin' straight outta Mordor, I'm ready to rock!"

– Roger Thomasson



credit: Justin Wood

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