Nerdcore is a hip-hop subgenre where technical skill meets unabashed geek culture, born in the early 2000s when bedroom producers and MCs started rapping about video games, science fiction, computer programming, and comic books instead of street life. Unlike mainstream rap's focus on authenticity through lived experience, nerdcore champions authenticity through passion—its practitioners are proudly obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, retro gaming, coding languages, and anime lore. Pioneers like MC Frontalot and MC Chris established the template: clever wordplay, self-deprecating humor, and references dense enough to require a wiki, often laid over chiptune-influenced beats or sampled game soundtracks that distinguish it from traditional hip-hop production.
While it shares hip-hop's rhythmic foundation and electronic music's DIY ethos, nerdcore carves its niche through subject matter and community rather than sonic revolution. The scene thrives on inside jokes and shared knowledge—a Venn diagram of rap technique and fan convention culture. Artists like YTCracker bring hacker aesthetics, Schaffer the Darklord adds horror-comedy elements, and Sammus injects academic feminism, but all operate within a framework where a Game of Thrones punchline lands harder than a boast about wealth.
Listen to nerdcore because it proves rap's versatility as a storytelling medium—where else can you hear technically proficient flows about JavaScript debugging or dungeon crawling? It's hip-hop for those who spent their youth optimizing character builds instead of hustling corners, delivered with the same intensity and craftsmanship as any cipher.
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List updated:
| #25 | ByBenjamin Bear | Released:1962 | |||
| #93 | ByMC Lars | Released:1999-10-26 | |||
| #96 | ByMC Lars | Released:2000-08-29 | |||
| #40 | ByAtom and His Package | Released:2001-04-03 | |||
| #2 | ByMC Chris | Released:2001 | |||
| #69 | ByJesse Dangerously | Released:2002-08-01 | nerdcore | ||
| #17 | ByMC Paul Barman | Released:2002-10-08 | nerdcore | ||
| #89 | ByOptimus Rhyme | Released:2002 | |||
| #63 | ByMC Lars | Released:2003-09-20 | |||
| #20 | ByOptimus Rhyme | Released:2004-02-20 | |||
| #12 | ByMC Lars | Released:2004-07-19 | |||
| #44 | BySchaffer the Darklord | Released:2004 | nerdcore | ||
| #78 | ByMC Hawking | Released:2004 | |||
| #8 | ByYTCracker | Released:2005-05 | |||
| #29 | ByMC Frontalot | Released:2005-08-27 | nerdcore | ||
| #36 | ByNeon Blonde | Released:2005-09-13 | |||
| #33 | ByJesse Dangerously | Released:2005-11-12 | nerdcore | ||
| #37 | ByShael Riley | Released:2005-12-25 | nerdcore | ||
| #58 | ByFormer Fat Boys | Released:2005 | nerdcore | ||
| #27 | ByFuturistic Sex Robotz | Released:2006-02-21 | nerdcore | ||
| #1 | ByMC Lars | Released:2006-03-11 | nerdcore | ||
| #99 | ByMC Lars | Released:2006-05-08 | rapnerdcore | ||
| #34 | ByOptimus Rhyme | Released:2006-07-07 | |||
| #9 | ByMC Chris | Released:2006-08-28 | nerdcore | ||
| #23 | ByCaptain Dan & The Scurvy Crew | Released:2006 | nerdcore | ||
| #11 | ByMC Frontalot | Released:2007-04-06 | |||
| #68 | ByDual Core | Released:2007-04-27 | nerdcore | ||
| #15 | ByMadhatter | Released:2007-04 | |||
| #14 | BySchaffer the Darklord | Released:2007-11-13 | nerdcore | ||
| #24 | ByCaptain Dan & The Scurvy Crew | Released:2007 | hip-hopnerdcore | ||
| #43 | ByMC Lars | Released:2007 | nerdcore | ||
| #46 | ByJesse Dangerously | Released:2007 | nerdcorerap | ||
| #64 | ByRocket Propelled Geeks | Released:2007 | nerdcore | ||
| #53 | ByKrondor Krew | Released:2008-01-01 | nerdcore | ||
| #3 | ByMC Chris | Released:2008-05-13 | |||
| #5 | ByMC Frontalot | Released:2008-09-30 | |||
| #35 | By8-Bit Boys | Released:2008-11-01 | |||
| #38 | ByMC Lars | Released:2008-11-25 | nerdcore | ||
| #51 | ByMC Lars | Released:2008-11-25 | nerdcore | ||
| #7 | ByOptimus Rhyme | Released:2008-12-20 | nerdcore | ||
| #41 | Byattack slug | Released:2008 | nerdcore | ||
| #50 | ByGrip Grand | Released:2008 | nerdcore | ||
| #49 | ByI Shot The Duck Hunt Dog | Released:2008 | |||
| #66 | ByMC Chris | Released:2008 | |||
| #26 | ByTeam Teamwork | Released:2009-03-16 | |||
| #73 | BySatellite High | Released:2009-06-30 | |||
| #52 | ByKabuto the Python | Released:2009-08-31 | nerdcore | ||
| #55 | BySchaffer the Darklord | Released:2009 | hip-hopnerdcore | ||
| #82 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2009 | hip-hopnerdcore | ||
| #74 | ByArsonists Get All The Girls | Released:2009 | |||
| #81 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2009 | nerdcore | ||
| #30 | BySkyblew | Released:2010-03-07 | |||
| #56 | BySmosh | Released:2010-06-29 | rapnerdcore | ||
| #57 | ByYTCracker | Released:2010-08-23 | rapnerdcore | ||
| #31 | ByA-1 | Released:2010-09-06 | nerdcore | ||
| #67 | ByBeefy | Released:2010 | |||
| #70 | ByMC Cool Whip | Released:2010 | nerdcore | ||
| #97 | ByBenjamin Bear | Released:2011-02-28 | hip-hopnerdcore | ||
| #85 | ByWeerd Science | Released:2011-05-17 | |||
| #19 | ByMC Frontalot | Released:2011-08-07 | rapnerdcore | ||
| #42 | ByMilo | Released:2011-11-01 | |||
| #79 | ByAdam Sapphire | Released:2012 | |||
| #76 | ByChampagne Champagne | Released:2012 | |||
| #94 | ByMega Ran | Released:2013-07-09 | |||
| #60 | ByThe Adventures of Duane and BrandO | Released:2013-09-26 | |||
| #71 | ByThe Adventures of Duane & BrandO | Released:2013-09-26 | |||
| #54 | ByOxxxymiron | Released:2013-10-18 | |||
| #22 | ByStarbomb | Released:2013-12-17 | |||
| #75 | ByStarbomb | Released:2013-12-17 | |||
| #16 | ByMC Chris | Released:2013 | rapnerdcore | ||
| #48 | ByDame | Released:2014-05-30 | |||
| #65 | BySammus | Released:2014-06-03 | rapnerdcore | ||
| #6 | ByKill Bill: The Rapper | Released:2014-09-13 | |||
| #13 | ByStarbomb | Released:2014-12-16 | |||
| #28 | ByHuman Kitten | Released:2014 | |||
| #83 | ByCategory | Released:2014 | nerdcore | ||
| #47 | ByMC Lars | Released:2015-11-06 | hip-hopnerdcore | ||
| #92 | ByMC Lars | Released:2015-11-06 | |||
| #18 | ByBig Bad Bosses | Released:2016 | nerdcore | ||
| #61 | BySammus | Released:2016 | |||
| #4 | ByJimmy Urine | Released:2017-04-28 | electronicnerdcore | ||
| #80 | ByDual Core | Released:2017-12-24 | nerdcorerap | ||
| #59 | ByHuman Kitten | Released:2018-06-29 | emonerdcore | ||
| #45 | ByAdvantage: proGrammar | Released:2018 | nerdcore | ||
| #32 | ByStarbomb | Released:2019-04-19 | |||
| #100 | ByMC Chris | Released:2019 | |||
| #39 | ByORIGINAL GOD | Released:2020 | |||
| #84 | ByMega Ran | Released:2021-06-12 | |||
| #21 | ByVarious Artists | Released:2023 | nerdcore | ||
| #10 | ByKill Bill: The Rapper | Released: | experimental hip hopnerdcore | ||
| #62 | ByKrondor Krew | Released: | nerdcore | ||
| #72 | Bymaybe I'd be happier if I stabbed myself in the brain with a fork. James Call | Released: | |||
| #91 | ByErikka Innes | Released: | nerdcorestand-up | ||
| #77 | ByFlameboi Matt | Released: | |||
| #86 | ByMC Milk-Plus | Released: | nerdcore | ||
| #88 | ByRappy McRapperson and MC Wreckshin | Released: | nerdcore | ||
| #90 | ByCSHC | Released: | nerdcore | ||
| #95 | ByTeamheadkick | Released: | |||
| #98 | ByPope John Paul the Third | Released: | nerdcore | ||
| #87 | ByTORONTOKYO | Released: | cloud rapnerdcore |