MC Frontalot

Last updated
MC Frontalot
Frontalot.jpg
MC Frontalot performing in April 2007
Background information
Birth nameDamian Alexander Hess
Also known asThe Godfather of Nerdcore [1]
Born (1973-12-03) December 3, 1973 (age 50) [2]
San Francisco, California, U.S. [3]
Genres
Occupations
Instrument Vocals
Years active1999–present
LabelsLevel Up (current)
Website frontalot.com

Damian Alexander Hess (born December 3, 1973), better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer. He is widely credited as a pioneer of the nerdcore hip hop genre, blending elements of hip hop with themes from nerd culture. [4]

Contents

Career

Early days

Hess began releasing music as MC Frontalot in 1999. He gained early recognition through Song Fight!, an online songwriting and recording competition, where he consistently outperformed competitors. Although he has entered only seven songs under the name MC Frontalot, he has never lost a competition. [5] One notable entry, "Romantic Cheapskate," received 614 votes, far surpassing the next closest competitor with 28 votes. [6] In this song, Frontalot metaphorically compares Song Fight! to a neglected lover who remains loyal despite his indifference. [7]

In 2000, Frontalot released "Nerdcore Hiphop," which gained popularity in the geek and nerd communities. The rap subgenre of nerdcore, which had been developing among various performers, adopted the title and has since expanded rapidly. Although Hess is often considered the founder of nerdcore, he notes on his website that other early artists also deserve credit. [8] His first studio album, Nerdcore Rising , was released on August 27, 2005. The album featured six new songs and ten remixed tracks, with some new material produced by artists from Song Fight!, including indie rock and hip-hop artist Doctor Popular.

Spotlight

MC Frontalot performing live at PAX in 2004 MCFrontalot PAX04.jpg
MC Frontalot performing live at PAX in 2004

On March 18, 2002, the popular webcomic Penny Arcade named Frontalot their rapper laureate, significantly boosting his popularity. [9] This recognition led to regular performances at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), where he became a fixture from 2004 until 2013.

In 2006, Frontalot wrote and performed "Living At the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe," a song based on the webcomic Achewood. This track became the webcomic's theme song and was later included as a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band in 2008. Around the same time, he appeared on the Baddd Spellah track "Rhyme of the Nibelung," which won CBC Radio 2's Remix the Ring contest. [10] Frontalot's track "Final Boss" was featured over the end credits of the video game Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness in 2008. Throughout his career, he made occasional appearances in the webcomic Overcompensating by Jeffrey Rowland, and was featured in commercials for G4 TV. He also appeared on the show Freestyle 101, where he performed parts of his songs with freestyle lines connecting them.

In 2009, Frontalot's song "Origin of Species," a satirical take on Creation Science, was included as downloadable content for Rock Band during the Penny Arcade Expo. [11] Undeterred by controversy, Frontalot continued to push boundaries in 2010, when a heated debate erupted after journalists suggested that nerdcore could be perceived as "racist" if the genre continued to intentionally divorce itself from hip-hop's sociocultural roots, continuing to encourage black cultural erasure. [12] [13] This controversy underscored the complexities of race within the genre and sparked significant online discourse. [14] Despite the backlash, Frontalot proceeded with the release of his fourth album Zero Day . He underscored the critical timing and addressed the controversy directly in the album's title track, acknowledging that it was "already too late" for him to retreat from his vision, despite the criticism. [15] [16] The record was ultimately praised for connecting hacking and tech crises with rap’s cultural dynamics, showcasing Hess’s exploration of digital theft amid the genre’s debates on innovation and appropriation. [17]

Live performances

MC Frontalot performing at Nerdapalooza in July 2008 Nerdapalooza 2008 - MC Frontalot (2655412276).jpg
MC Frontalot performing at Nerdapalooza in July 2008

Although most of his fanbase is online, Hess gave a handful of live performances while living in San Francisco, and several more after moving to New York City. His first official tour started on May 12, 2006, with shows mostly in the Southeastern United States. [18] When he performs, he plays with a full ensemble, including keyboardist and frequent collaborator Gminor7, bassist Blak Lotus, and drummer The SturGENiUS. Other occasional band members include G.LATINusKY00B, The Categorical Imperative, Vic 20, and 56K.

Hess completed a tour with Schäffer the Darklord in November 2007 and began another tour in November 2008 with MC Lars and YTCracker. As of June 2010, he has been touring with alternative rock musicians Wheatus on their UK leg of their 10th anniversary tour, occasionally providing guest vocals and performing with Wheatus on some of his tracks. [19]

Film and television

Hess starred as "TP Factory Rapper" in the Sesame Street direct-to-video movie Elmo's Potty Time. [20]

Nerdcore Rising is a documentary/concert film starring Hess and various other nerdcore artists such as MC Chris, Optimus Rhyme, and MC Lars, with contributions from "Weird Al" Yankovic, Prince Paul, and Brian Posehn. The film, directed and produced by Negin Farsad, premiered at the 2008 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. It combines interviews about nerdcore and its origins with footage of Frontalot's 2006 Nerdcore Rising national tour. [21]

Hess was interviewed in Alexandre O. Philippe's documentary, The People vs. George Lucas , which premiered at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival. Hess attended the festival as a musician and panelist.

Hess made an appearance as a judge on the sixth episode of the first season of TBS's King of the Nerds, which originally aired on February 21, 2013.

Musical influences

Much of Hess's early music features samples from other artists' works, often using music from well-known artists such as Paul Simon, They Might Be Giants, James Brown, and Fiona Apple. [22] One example of this is the song "Good Old Clyde," which comments on and uses the popular "Funky Drummer" drum break by Clyde Stubblefield. [23]

Since beginning to sell his albums commercially, Hess has collaborated on nearly all his tracks with Baddd Spellah, an electronic musician and hip-hop producer, and Gaby 'Gminor7' Alter, a composer and keyboardist whose playing forms the basis for many of Frontalot's earlier songs. Hess has also worked with other rappers such as MC Hawking and Canadian rapper Jesse Dangerously. [24]

Discography

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It Is Pitch Dark
A short sample of "It Is Pitch Dark" from the second album, Secrets from the Future (2007).
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MC Frontalot performing at SXSW in March 2010 SXSW 2010 - MC Frontalot (4432674350) (2).jpg
MC Frontalot performing at SXSW in March 2010

Studio albums

Other releases

Non-album tracks

Related Research Articles

Ken Lawrence is a nerdcore rapper who purports to be the late theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking rapping under the name MC Hawking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheatus</span> American rock band

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<i>Nerdcore Hiphop</i> (album) 2004 demo album by MC Frontalot

Nerdcore Hiphop is a demo album by MC Frontalot, which first gave a name to the nerdcore genre, as well as the name of a song on that album. Because it was only released via the internet, the track listing is unordered, and includes tracks released from 1999 until his first commercial album, Nerdcore Rising, in 2005. The songs are therefore listed here in the order of which they were released. All listed songs are freely available for download through his website along with several remixes, mostly by Song Fight! regulars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nerdcore</span> Genre of hip hop music

Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term in the 2000 song "Nerdcore Hiphop". Frontalot, like most nerdcore artists, self-publishes his work and has released much of it for free online. As a niche genre, nerdcore generally holds to the DIY ethic, and has a history of self-publishing and self-production.

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<i>Nerdcore Rising</i> 2005 studio album by MC Frontalot

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teenage Dirtbag</span> 2000 single by Wheatus

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<i>Secrets from the Future</i> 2007 studio album by MC Frontalot

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<i>Nerdcore Rising</i> (film) 2008 American film

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<i>Final Boss</i> (album) 2008 album by MC Frontalot

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References

  1. 1 2 "Lies MC Frontalot Told Me". Wired. Retrieved February 25, 2022. The luckier among us were able to catch MC Frontalot, the godfather of nerdcore hip-hop, at last weekend's Comic-Con.
  2. ↑ @mclars (December 3, 2023). "Happy Birthday, @mc_frontalot! Half a century old today, and still rhyming like it's 1998!". Twitter . Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  3. ↑ MC Frontalot. I Heart Fags (song). I love fags because I am a San Franciscan.
  4. ↑ Walker, Rob (August 5, 2007). "MC Chris, MC Frontalot, and the Rise of Nerdcore". The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  5. ↑ "MC Frontalot song archive". Song Fight!. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
  6. ↑ ""Romantic Cheapskate" competition". Song Fight!. February 13, 2004. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
  7. ↑ ""Romantic Cheapskate" lyrics". Archived from the original on January 4, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  8. ↑ "MC Frontalot | FAQ".
  9. ↑ "PSO Revisited". Penny Arcade. March 18, 2002. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  10. ↑ "CBC Radio: Wagner's Ring - Remix The Ring". CBC. January 6, 2007. Archived from the original on January 6, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Living at the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe: Rock Band Track". Penny Arcade. September 2, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2024. "Origin of Species by MC Frontalot comes to Rock Band". Destructoid. September 14, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  12. ↑ Palopoli, Steve (February 24, 2010). "Is White Rap Racist? MC Lars ignites controversy, rocks his anniversary". Metro Silicon Valley. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  13. ↑ Jason Tanz (2007). "Other People's Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Pop and Rock". The Guardian. May 30, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  15. ↑ "MC Frontalot Zero Day Review". Wired. April 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  16. ↑ "MC Frontalot - Zero Day Lyrics". Genius. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Nerdcore: A Type of Hip-Hop for the Geek in All of Us". The Ledger. August 10, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Nerdcore Rising Tour 2006". Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
  19. ↑ "Wheatus Anniversary Tour 2010". Archived from the original on June 15, 2006. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Elmo's Potty Time". IMDb . Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  21. ↑ "Nerdcore Rising". Archived from the original on January 27, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
  22. ↑ Hess, Damian (August 11, 2005). "(Not So) Hip-Hop". The Brian Lehrer Show (Interview). Interviewed by Brian Lehrer. New York City: WNYC. Archived from the original (MP3, RAM) on January 2, 2007.
  23. ↑ ""Good Old Clyde" lyrics". Archived from the original on January 4, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  24. ↑ "Nerdcore Rising track information". Archived from the original on January 28, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2007.
  25. ↑ "Official announcement of 'Zero Day'". Archived from the original on 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
  26. ↑ "Celebrity Android User: MC Frontalot" . Retrieved 2009-12-18.
  27. ↑ "Humble Bundle" . Retrieved 5 June 2018.
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