In honor of this article in the NY Times on nerdcore, here’s mc chris with Robotussin (featuring a sample from the video game Gauntlet) and MC Frontalot with Secrets From the Future (the title track from his latest album).

We’ve previously mentioned two of nerdcore’s luminaries, MC Frontalot and Optimus Rhyme. Both artists’ new CDs feature their collaboration, Ping Pong Song (Baddd Spellah Remix feat. MC Frontalot).

You don’t have to be a fan of Achewood to dig Livin’ At The Corner Of Dude & Catastrophe. But if you are, you’ll dig it even more.

In honor of the article about nerdcore hip-hop in this week’s Newsweek – Lord, I can scarcely believe I typed that phrase – here are three fun nerdcore tracks:

MC Frontalot - Charity Case
Optimus Rhyme - Just Forget It
mc chris - DQ Blizzard

I cannot get enough of MC Frontalot’s This Old Man.

Chris Ward was once just a guy recording hip-hop in his free time, when not at his day job: an animator at Cartoon Network who also provided the voices of Hesh on Sealab and MC Pee Pants on Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

That all changed when he got his bosses to use his tune Fett’s Vette during one episode. I imagine my reaction was like that of many viewers: “Is this is a rap song… about Boba Fett?!”

And with that, mc chris reached the world, and became one of the biggest names in nerdcore hip-hop. Since then he’s released two EPs and a full album, and has gotten so successful at it that he’s retired as an animator and is now touring full-time.

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys hip-hop songs about meeting people on Friendster, or getting high on Robitussin, or being a loser who can’t get girls and spends all day on message boards, well, chris is for you.

Chris has his entire first EP up for free download on his Audio page (including “Fett’s Vette” and my favorite, Fuckin’ Up My Christmas”), plus a radio edit of the extremely groovy Ratz.

Optimus Rhyme, who we’ve mentioned before, have just released their second album, School the Indie Rockers. One of the tracks, Just Forget It, is available for free at their site.

In honor of this post over at Bray New World, we present MC Hawking’s What We Need More Of Is Science.

Lyrics very NSFW.

Do you like hip-hop songs about robots driving space taxis? Of course you do, which is why you’ll like Optimus Rhyme and their track Fuzzy Dice.

But don’t stop there; they’re a rockin’, edgy crew consisting of two MCs backed by a live band – sort of like Rage Against the Machine, but with a sci-fi vibe instead of Marxist screeching. So try their other free tracks: Ford vs. Chevy, Compiler, Incognit2, DBR, Dermato Fibro Sarcoma Protruberance, and Calm Down with its great shout-along chorus.

MC Frontalot is the man who coined the term “nerdcore hip-hop”, hip-hop for (and by) geeks. I really dig his stuff, and not just because his alter ego may or may not have gone to Wesleyan.

While the genre (and Front’s moniker) might seem all ha-ha schticky, the music isn’t. Clever, yes; novelty, no. He’s got sharp rhymes, a solid flow, and catchy backing tracks courtesy of DJ CPU and Baddd Spellah.

Take Indier Than Thou, the track that first caught my attention, a critique of the indie community’s snobbiness. Or the madcap Gonna Be Your Man, with its catchy sample of Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem. Or the pointed political message (and Simpsons samples) of Special Delivery. Or the bouncy fun of Which MC Was That?. 24-7, he fronts the most.