OK, it’s a fair point that conscious hip-hop has become a little bit pious and practically oppressive. And if Talib Kweli wants to call his record A Prisoner of Consciousness, fine; he’s earned it. But even alternatives have alternatives. So here’s one: Instead of conscious hip-hop, where the flow is ever-so-smooth and the vibe is soulful and socially aware, how about self-conscious hip-hop, where the flow is spastic, the vibe computer-savvy and socially awkward?
We are talking here about making rap safe for web-addicted white-boy shut-ins from college towns everywhere. Oh, they are players, all right. Players of Magic: The Gathering and World of Warcraft. We are talking here about nerdcore.
And we are watching in wonder and listening to the genre’s so-called godfather, the Bay Area-spawned MC Frontalot (née Damian Hess), as he spits the hook in “Braggadocio,” a signature track: “Now it’s time for a little braggadocio/while I swing my arms like Ralph Macchio.”
It works on several levels.
The occasion for this drolly enlightening experience is comedian/filmmaker Negin Farsad’s documentary Nerdcore Rising, which plays for two days this week at the Red Vic. See it if for no other reason than written description is unable to do it justice.