Nerdcore: More geek than gangsta

The heavy bass-line and classic breakbeat are regulation hip-hop. But instead of rhyming about guns, cars and women, the MC is spitting lyrics about Star Wars conventions, blogs and computer viruses. He is MC Frontalot and this is the weird world of nerdcore. Frontalot, 33, who describes himself as the "world's 579th greatest rapper", is the godfather of nerdcore. What started as computer geeks writing songs and sharing them with a handful of like-minded people in the confines of the internet has now turned into a phenomenon.

Nerdcore artists draw inspiration from science, literature, comic books and computer games, while referencing geek heroes such as Stephen Hawking. When I call Frontalot, born Damian Hess, at the home in Summerville, Massachusetts, which he shares with his long-term girlfriend, he's watching the British comedy Extras, drinking coffee and working on his new album in his homemade studio. "Nerdcore is an idea that a lot of folks are sharing these days," he says. The phrase originated from one of Frontalot's early tunes "Nerdcore Hip-Hop". "I came up with it in a fit of self-mocking when I realised that my audience was a computer monitor and five people on the internet that I'd never met."

It may have arrived just in time. There is a backlash against rappers, such as 50 Cent, who critics argue have turned one of the most exciting and meaningful modern music genres into mass-marketing and the glamorisation of black-on-black crime.

Since ditching his web-design business, Frontalot's independently produced tracks have earned him a devoted audience. In January more than 130,000 people visited his website, www.frontalot.com, and, from a list of songs available to download free, the top four have been downloaded more than 45,000 times. Nerdcore Rising (released in August 2005), his first retail album, is in its third printing and has been featured on the front page of the iTunes site; his new album, Secrets From the Future, is coming out on 6 April. A documentary, Nerdcore Rising, which follows Frontalot and his fans on his first big US tour, is also about to be released.

Other rising nerdcore stars such as mc chris, MC Lars, Optimus Rhyme and Baddd Spellah are also filling large live venues all over the US. MC Lars, who will be joining Frontalot on his US tour in April and is playing a series of dates in the UK in May, had an even unlikelier emergence into the world of hip-hop than Frontalot. Born in California, Lars came to the UK in 2003 to study English literature at Oxford University. While at Oxford, he contacted local bands and asked them if they wanted an opening act. He got a few gigs and it took off from there. If he weren't a rapper, he would love to be a professor or teacher. I speak to Lars as he is on his way to Las Vegas for a sell-out gig. "When I was at college, old-school hip-hop really inspired me, but with today's technology you don't have to be able to sing. "

Along with literature, one of his interests is politics, and the two weighty subjects come together in his song "Ahab". It's about Moby Dick. "I read Moby Dick, and I thought it was a great book but it was really long, so I tried to put it into three minutes," says the 24-year-old. "It ties in with the whole Bush and terrorism thing. Bush is kinda looking for the white whale of terrorism."

Nerdcore doesn't shy away from illegal downloading; after all, this is how it was born. Downloading, both illegal and legal, is here to stay, says Lars, laughing. "In the long run, it balances out because then people come to see you. It's the four parts of making money; touring, merchandising, publishing and record deals. In theory, if the record sales go down, the other three are helped by the free promotion."

It's also a sign of the times, says Negin Farsad, who directed and produced the documentary Nerdcore Rising. "Nerdcore is the perfect representation of the digital democratisation of music," she explains. "It's one of the first musical genres born out of the internet and digital music-making platforms."

But MC Chris feels that, unless a nerdcore rapper gets signed to a major label, it is a style doomed to the underground. Yet can a nerdcore rapper become a superstar and still be a geek?

'Secrets from the Future' is available from 6 April; MC Lars tours from 3 to 17 May www.goodtogotour.co.uk