'MC Chris is dead'

By: Ian Grogan

Posted: 5/23/08

For those of you who don't know him, MC Chris is an underground hip-hop artist who can be seen as one of the founding fathers of the nerdcore genre, although he claims he has no part in it.

Nerdcore is a genre that incorporates nerdy topics (i.e. "Star Wars," "Dungeons and Dragons," science fiction and zombies) in songs. MC Chris wrangles the nerdcore genre, breaks free of its boundaries and spits it out into catchy rhymes that will be stuck in your head all day.

Chris Ward, a.k.a. MC Chris, became well-known with his works on the cartoon television network Adult Swim. He helped produce shows including "Sealab 2021," "The Brak Show" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." In "Sealab" he was well-known as the recurring character Hesh, and on "Aqua Teen" he is the nefarious rapper in several episodes (known as MC Pee Pants, Sir Loin and Little Brittle).

MC Chris' most noticeable trait is his cartoony voice, which makes everything he does unique. He also worked with the voice of Brak to create one of my favorite songs "White Kids Love Hip-Hop," which sums up the hardships of a middle-class white kid.

Chris' fifth album release, "mc chris is dead," is quite an accomplishment for being unsigned. The new album is definitely a switch compared to his other releases, and the change is evident among many of his fans, but not for the worse.

His first apparent switch is in his use of more electronics. MC Chris worked more in-depth with his DJs on this release, adding more beats to his music and some professionalism to his repertoire.

One thing I felt was kind of a bummer was his cleaner lyricism. MC Chris is known for being raunchy and having several drug references in most of his songs, yet for the new album he cleaned things up. But by making this album more commonly acceptable, hopefully he can get some air time this go-around.

The whole album is quite a delight to the ears; Chris continues his way of making albums you can listen to over and over without tiring of it.

A few songs for recommended listening are "Hoodie Ninja," "Pizza Butt," "Rollercoaster" and "On*" - just be careful because "On*" is a little racy in its lyrics. He also brings back his hilarious skits and the gang of nerds known as the "Imperial Senate" who plague most of MC's CD's skits.

MC can be seen this summer as a part of the Warped Tour, and you even may get to hang with him in his newly added zombie merch tent he'll be showing off at the event.

Overall, I believe "mc chris is dead" is one of MC Chris' better albums. It's a change from his other music, and he uses it to prove that he can make things surprising with every new release.

MC Chris will always have new and exciting tricks up his sleeve. MC Chris gives hope to all of us nerds and geeks out there that we can make it somewhere in life with a little effort and some badass beats in the background.

MC Chris
mc chris is dead

Grade: B+
Check out: "Hoodie Ninja," "Pizza Butt" and "On*"
Skip: "Reese" and "Never Give Up"

Ian Grogan

diversions@dailybarometer.com