Comments on Hipster, please!: +1 blog of nerd music & culture: Top 10 Nerdcore Artists of all Time

Honestly, there’s no way this list wouldn’t be bia...

2007-05-01T09:33:00.000-04:00

Honestly, there’s no way this list wouldn’t be biased in one way or another. No matter how many people voted or how I weighed the results, some folks just weren’t represented as much as they rightfully should’ve been. The fact that Jesse Dangerously didn’t get more love is, in my opinion, a gross oversight. There are also a number of highly creative, incredibly influential people, like Doc Pop and Shael Riley, whom I believed suffered simply because nerdcore isn’t their sole arena of musical endeavor.

Bottom line: I realized going into this that a lot of people – me, first and foremost – weren’t going to agree 100% with the results. Everyone ascribes a different level of importance to individual artists, and it’s hard to rectify this within the scheme of a few friends talking over drinks, much less the hundreds of people involved in this project.

In the end, I got a lot of input from fans old and new through channels public and private. The above list was the general consensus. And while it leaves off a few of my personal favorites (and under-represents some of those who made the cut), I think that the artists presented are all very talented and ultimately deserving of praise.

And Geof is right: if I’d’ve ranked Optimus Rhyme based solely on my personal bias they would’ve clinched the top spot. :D

I'd have to say that the only thing questionable a...

2007-05-01T06:19:00.000-04:00

I'd have to say that the only thing questionable about that list is my presence on it. ;) Otherwise, I'd say it's exactly what I'd expect out of a nerdcore top 10 at this point, particular a top 10 that's drawn largely from the nerdcore artist community.

@Tha Mike: I'm curious, what would your top 5 be? ...

2007-05-01T04:10:00.000-04:00

@Tha Mike: I'm curious, what would your top 5 be? Personally I wouldn't have - and didn't - rank OR as highly, but I don't think their final position was because of bias, but just because my opinion is just mine and others apparently don't share it. Which is cool.

its okay you left me off. alot of people did.but i...

2007-05-01T03:46:00.000-04:00

its okay you left me off. alot of people did.
but im not hurt.

infact, i didnt even dream of making that list..

im still not sure why..

but it makes me feel real neat.

What Router said. Talk about who should or shouldn...

2007-05-01T01:17:00.000-04:00

What Router said. Talk about who should or shouldn't have been on the list, fine, but don't impune Z for skewing it. That shite just didn't happen.

(And yeah, now feeling extra bad for leaving off Router. But Shael (IMHO) needed to be on there. Aw crap, why couldn't it have been a baker's dozen?)

z biased? thats horseshit if ive ever heard it.i h...

2007-05-01T01:01:00.000-04:00

z biased? thats horseshit if ive ever heard it.

i havent even barely talked to z in liek forever.
if he was biased he woulda put someone on there who he was better friends with.

besides ppl voted. and z and dan are good men.

<33

router

I'm going to chime in again in defense of Z. I bel...

2007-05-01T00:55:00.000-04:00

I'm going to chime in again in defense of Z. I believe I'm the only one to question his methodology before the fact, and yet even I was satisfied that he was ultimately doing what I would have done in his place (just that I thought he was doing it the hard way.)

And I will say that just the discussion of who should have been and who should not have been on the list is valuable in itself. I left off YT, and I realize that it was just because I hadn't listend to him in a while. I included 'Hella, but largely because I had gotten lots of positive feedback from non-nerdore people about her whenever I played her. (She spent a week going on and off of my list. I'm sure her ears were burning.)

To sort of loop the discussion back to where it should be: good on ya' Z, for giving us a spot to point n00bs at the genre. And hey, if you think there's anyone that deserves extra mention (YT, Nursehella, RPG, Zealous1, etc.) well, then mention them. Folks will be digging through these comments for a while.

Oh yeah, =/F7\=

I second Beefy, and not just as a loyal member of ...

2007-05-01T00:26:00.000-04:00

I second Beefy, and not just as a loyal member of F7. If Z wanted to promote his own top ten, he wouldn't have taken so long to do so. The artists that made the list did so because they are popular.

That's kind of a dick thing to say tha mike. If yo...

2007-05-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

That's kind of a dick thing to say tha mike. If you're implying that Z wasn't honest that makes you an asshole. People voted for their favorites and if you want to accuse an artist of maybe being too popular that's fine by me, but to imply that Z is a liar is bullshit. Step up and say who you don't agree with being on the list. Don't accuse Z of being biased because someone you're a fan of didn't get enough votes. Having your own opinion is more than acceptable and encouraged and you had your vote, but don't even partially accuse the person who composed the list of not doing it fairly when you have nothing to base it on.

-Beefy. Always making friends.

No offense to anyone on this list, but I wiff a hi...

2007-04-30T18:33:00.000-04:00

No offense to anyone on this list, but I wiff a hint of this list being biased towards certain people.

I will say 3 of the top 5 are correct.

wheres b bear??? come on!

2007-04-30T18:05:00.000-04:00

wheres b bear??? come on!

Thanks, Geof. That’s really what I was going for: ...

2007-04-30T13:54:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Geof. That’s really what I was going for: sort of a rough jumping-off place for folks beginning to get interested in nerdcore. Glad to know I succeeded.

As with any top 10, there're a couple in there (an...

2007-04-30T13:42:00.000-04:00

As with any top 10, there're a couple in there (and not in there) I might list differently, but overall, hells yes that's a great list. Good idea with the sample tracks too - "Now That's What I Call Nerdcore"

In fact, I'd say this post'd make an excellent place to direct people to when spreading the gospel, and I believe I shall do just that later this week.

Thanks for the comments, Soc. Lists like this are ...

2007-04-30T13:17:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the comments, Soc. Lists like this are always difficult because, at the end of the day, it’s all about individual opinion. I was surprised by a few things myself, but I have to say that I’m really happy with the list overall. Every artist within the sphere of nerdcore brings his or her own unique elements to the table, and that makes things of this nature really difficult to quantify.

Thanks for all your help in wrangling up pictures and videos, Dan. I really appreciate all your support of Hipster, please! and nerdcore hip hop.

That's a hell of a good list if I do say so myself...

2007-04-30T13:03:00.000-04:00

That's a hell of a good list if I do say so myself. Great work Z!

Finally, a top ten list I can agree with. I was a ...

2007-04-30T13:01:00.000-04:00

Finally, a top ten list I can agree with. I was a little surprised about the lack of MC++, but I'm not a huge fan of his recorded style (from what I hear from Beefy, his live sets are much better). That said, I think that "Chip Hop Nerd" is about the coolest song ever. Monzy, on the other hand, sounds somewhat better, but suffers from the same problems that have plauged Nursehella, and to a greater degree Lil Nix: a sexy body, but not much material.

Oh yeah, there were a lot of great artists who got...

2007-04-30T11:14:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah, there were a lot of great artists who got left out, but I reckon such is the nature of the beast. Shael, Doc Pop, MPFM, FFB, and tons of other folks really deserved some love. I tried to work as many names into the piece as possible, but in the end I knew I couldn’t include everyone.

Nice to see the final list is pretty close to my o...

2007-04-30T10:45:00.000-04:00

Nice to see the final list is pretty close to my own. I had Shael and Nursehella, but Router and YT are equally deserving.

Actually, it's a testament to the scene that there is more than enough talent out there for a list like this.