The Rise of Nerdcore
OK, small confession time. I am, at my deepest core, a geek. I spend much of my limited free time playing video games, I devour Sci-Fi novels, and I think online comics are the greatest invention of the 21st century. I love it. I'm also enthusiastic, although I admit I don't follow it as much, about the new "geek culture" that's been cropping up. I'm fascinated by the new subcultures rising up for previously marginal groups that include all the subculture trappings you'd expect: lore, art, and especially music.
On the music side, if there's one trend for geek culture that rises above the rest it's definitely Nerdcore. Nerdcore is the cross between driving, rhythmic rap and, well, resistors, capacitors, coding, and manga. The first Nerdcore rapper I heard about was Optimus Rhyme, and more come up every year. The one everyone talks about now is MC Frontalot. (For the more rock-centric, check out The Minibosses, who exclusively cover themes from original Nintendo games.)
Imagine my delight, then, when a friend pointed out that this past April's issue of Esquire included an article on Nerdcore with an Adobe Audition namecheck included. It's always hard to know exactly who's using our software to make their art, but the rise of Nerdcore is the kind of personalized musical expression I always hope we're enabling for our users.
It's a great example of what I've talked about so much: now that the creative tools are available to pretty much anyone, new kinds of music are possible. If one of these Nerdcore or other geek-centric music acts had to get through the label system there's no chance anyone would have ever heard what they were creating. But with available tools to create, and the internet to distribute, new new fanbase is created. And for those who doubt that there are real fanbases, check out the gamer expo site for Penny Arcade Expo. They have 7 acts lined up, and last year the concerts sold out with thousands of screaming fans. If you want to listen, they have samples from all 7 acts.