Dan Lamoureux's Nerdcore for Life casts the relatively obscure intersection of geeky music and Internet culture known as nerdcore hip-hop in an interesting light: its own. Rather than proceed as an outsider's look into the realm of nerdcore, the film instead chooses to define the movement and its music in its own terms, for good or ill.
Focusing primarily on the coalescence of the scene following the 2006 release of the Rhyme Torrents compilations a multi-artist project that both brought together nerdy rappers and, ultimately, precipitated a number of thematic and artistic schisms and following various acts throughout the turbulent year that followed, the film allows its physical subjects to wax nostalgic about the roots of this unlikely musical mixture as well as prognosticate its uncertain future.
While artists like Beefy, MC Router, Ultraklystron, MC Lars and a score of others are featured prominently, the genuine star of the documentary is the very odd musical culture they represent. From the over-the-top persona of the masked Sucklord to the always-subdued Jesse Dangerously, nerdcore is painted in a myriad of shades befitting its various disparate flavors.
Of course, in the spirit of interesting film-making, a bit more attention is paid to the scene's most exaggerated personalities. After all, the crux of the film is that some real nerds make hip-hop, not that some real hip-hop is made by nerds. That being said, this documentary, or any other argument regarding the legitimacy of nerdcore, is unlikely to change the minds of those dedicated haters who see this oft-cited "sub-genre" as a bastardization of hip-hop proper.
By the same token, there are a number of moments and, indeed, players represented that may make dedicated nerdcore fans a bit uneasy. Since the film's completion, for example, mc chris has again distanced himself from the phrase "nerdcore hip-hop." The fact that issues like this aren't broached in the rough narrative of the film simply serves to strengthen the argument that Nerdcore for Life is not meant to be a comprehensive history of the scene, but rather a time capsule of its peculiar rise to a mild brand of prominence.
In the end, Nerdcore for Life is the type of documentary that will more than likely give you what you want. If you're looking for a tale of empowerment and self-discovery by a group of oft-downtrodden geeks, it's found easily enough. If you're looking for the type of awkward social interactions you'd expect from pop culture's nerdier constituents, that can be observed as well. But most importantly, if you're looking to be entertained, informed, and possibly a little enlightened by a cast of Class A dorks seeking to celebrate an overlooked culture through musical experimentation, then you're apt to come away smiling.
Focusing primarily on the coalescence of the scene following the 2006 release of the Rhyme Torrents compilations a multi-artist project that both brought together nerdy rappers and, ultimately, precipitated a number of thematic and artistic schisms and following various acts throughout the turbulent year that followed, the film allows its physical subjects to wax nostalgic about the roots of this unlikely musical mixture as well as prognosticate its uncertain future.
While artists like Beefy, MC Router, Ultraklystron, MC Lars and a score of others are featured prominently, the genuine star of the documentary is the very odd musical culture they represent. From the over-the-top persona of the masked Sucklord to the always-subdued Jesse Dangerously, nerdcore is painted in a myriad of shades befitting its various disparate flavors.
Of course, in the spirit of interesting film-making, a bit more attention is paid to the scene's most exaggerated personalities. After all, the crux of the film is that some real nerds make hip-hop, not that some real hip-hop is made by nerds. That being said, this documentary, or any other argument regarding the legitimacy of nerdcore, is unlikely to change the minds of those dedicated haters who see this oft-cited "sub-genre" as a bastardization of hip-hop proper.
By the same token, there are a number of moments and, indeed, players represented that may make dedicated nerdcore fans a bit uneasy. Since the film's completion, for example, mc chris has again distanced himself from the phrase "nerdcore hip-hop." The fact that issues like this aren't broached in the rough narrative of the film simply serves to strengthen the argument that Nerdcore for Life is not meant to be a comprehensive history of the scene, but rather a time capsule of its peculiar rise to a mild brand of prominence.
In the end, Nerdcore for Life is the type of documentary that will more than likely give you what you want. If you're looking for a tale of empowerment and self-discovery by a group of oft-downtrodden geeks, it's found easily enough. If you're looking for the type of awkward social interactions you'd expect from pop culture's nerdier constituents, that can be observed as well. But most importantly, if you're looking to be entertained, informed, and possibly a little enlightened by a cast of Class A dorks seeking to celebrate an overlooked culture through musical experimentation, then you're apt to come away smiling.
