I like this. It’s pretty much a description of MC Frontalot’s act.

It’s interesting that Front (who defined Nerdcore) and Chris (who has only recently, and reluctantly, embraced it) both resist branding themselves as Alpha Nerds (offstage, in Front’s case) largely out of respect to the segment of their audience who surpass them in the nerdly arts.

*pushes up glasses* BTW, unmatched parenthesis, there.

When it comes to the people consuming the media I think the following is true of gangsta rap–at least at its conception: A specific group is underserved by mainstream media, in part because it does not really understand them and in part because they don’t have proven economic clout (ie, the mainstream hasn’t realized that they can profit from selling to these people so why do it). Also, this specific group sees its own portray in the mainstream as misunderstood. In response to these factors, the group creates an outsized image that conforms to the mistaken mainstream perception of what they are: in this case, they are uber-gangstas. The audience understands (or just responses) to this image and elevates the performers/creators. Once the tribe is big enough, the mainstream gets wind of the money in the air and suddenly hiphop is everywhere, P. Diddy makes more putting out clothes than records and Tupac, RIP, isn’t around to make money off a subculture that he created.

Here’s the thing. Weird Al is the Tupac of Nerdcore (maybe?). The Nerdcore follows exactly the same pattern. (At this point, Jason is saying, yes Chris, there have been hundreds of explanations of this far better than what you have said.) And so, now that the economics are falling into place (clearly they are there movie/TV wise with all the comic book movies). I’m just saying that the “HyperWhite” identity of Nerdcore artists might be more of a semi-construct meant to deliver the following messages to would be NerdCore audiences (1) I’m the geekiest person you know and therefore my art is authentic and (2) I know you’re smart enough to know that this is an act that I’m doing, in the same way that you end up having to be the geekiest person around when you are in school, at the workplace, etc. therefore, you can relate to what I’m doing, we are brothers-in-arms (or computer mice or mult-side dice) and that is a connection that should flourish). (In gangsta rap, the message is “I’m black just like you and everyone else thinks I’m capable of these terrible things I sing about and if they keep treating me like that, maybe I am capable of these things).

I dunno.

Or, to put it another way, having money validates the nerd tag and image, just as poverty validates the gangsta rap image. And then it turns out that overcoming that initial validating trait is seen as the final victory, i.e. Snoop flaunting his wealth, and Bill Gates with his much-too-beautiful-for-a-guy-like-that wife.