Hip-hop for Fandom

My love for hip-hop and games were never mutually exclusive. I learned about Japanese hip-hop artists through Bemani games. Japanese hip-hop eventually led me back to American hip-hop, thanks to J-hip-hop influences and collaborations. While I appreciate all kinds of hip-hop, nerdcore is a sub-genre I can especially appreciate. Like most music, there's a lot of unfortunate crap you have to weed through to get to the good stuff. For those of you who may be new at this, I'm going to try and make it a little bit easier for you by making a few artist recommendations.

Random (a.k.a. Mega Ran) is my #1 pick. He was recently featured on complex.com for his amazing freestyling at E3, and his Mega Man albums are officially licensed by Capcom. He is lyrically skilled and is frequently backed up by familiar, but wonderfully remixed samples and beats. Find all of his music here. The best from Mega Ran is the tracks he did with K-Murdock. My favourite is below.

This next artist was introduced to me by my boyfriend (who will, from this point on be referred to as "Tanuki"). Tanuki works in information security. Information security has a small community. So, it didn't take long for him to find YT Cracker. His latest track was titled "#antisec" and was in regards to lulzsec being caught. He's a smart guy with smart lyrics. Find all of his albums here. Find one of his catchiest tracks below, "The Link."

Adam WarRock's music has a wide variety of subjects, from Mass Effect 3 to Parks and Recreation. Once, I randomly saw his name on an Asian-American blog. I thought, "Why is Adam WarRock featured here?" I had no idea he's Korean American! He's a lawyer turned rapper and keeps relevant with regular releases. You can find his albums here. Also, check this one out, it's about the best show on television.

These artists are just a teeny-tiny fraction of nerdcore. For a much more comprehensive list of nerdcore artists, check out nerdcorenow.com. I'll definitely be making more recommendations in the future.