Nerdcore rapper MC Chris brings “Last Tour” stop to Savannah’s El Rocko
Legendary nerdcore rapper MC Chris stops at the EL Rocko Lounge on his “I Thought the Last Tour Was the Last Tour”.
Fans may know MC Chris best as the voice of MC P Pants, the demon rapper from hell in the popular Adult Swim series “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” MC Chris has also been an animator, writer, and voice actor for “The Brak Show” and “Sea Lab 2021.”
As a rap artist, MC Chris has collaborated with Andrew WK, Talib Kweli and Donald Glover and has performed at Warped Tour and the Gathering of Juggalos.
MC Chris is back on tour, although he believes his last tour was the last hurrah, but according to him this tour is going even better than the last one.
“I accidentally spent $10,000 on an Instagram ad,” MC Chris explained. “I was asked how much I wanted to spend on the whole ad and I said ‘$500,’ but I can’t see because I’m losing my eyesight and I didn’t have my reading glasses on and I was asked how much I wanted to spend daily so I spent $500 on this daily Instagram ad. That had this crazy result of so many fans coming to the show who didn’t know I rap and didn’t know I’m not an 8-foot spider in a diaper.
“So many fans who haven’t seen me in over a decade. So many bring pictures of me and them from over 15 years ago. People tell me all these memories, many of which I can’t remember. It’s a crazy experience to see all these fans who have nothing but love and appreciation for me. It seems like we’ve all had a rough decade and it kind of feels like a high school reunion.”
“I learned what I will do for the rest of my life.”
MC Chris grew up in the Chicago suburbs and first tried his hand at rapping as a kid after watching “Rappin’ Ronnie.” Wearing a Ronald Reagan mask and carrying a synthesizer, young Chris tried rapping at his mom’s bridge club and got a few laughs before being fired.
“As I got older, I just loved hip-hop,” MC Chris said. “I grew up in this homogenized, gentrified part of Chicago and not many people listened to hip-hop. I remember seeing some tapes of the Beastie Boys and Ice-T, but nobody really listened to hip-hop. I had older brothers who I took a lot of my taste from. They listened to Public Enemy and I remember someone gave my brother a mixtape with The Cure and De La Soul one day. When I heard De LA Soul, it changed my life.”
In the years that followed, MC Chris traveled around rapping to mixtapes with artists such as Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde and Public Enemy.
“I did not know that Karate Kid “I learned how to rap,” said MC Chris. “I learned what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.”
MC Chris later moved to New York City to study animation at NYU, describing feeling “small and insignificant” after being a big fish in a small pond at home.
“I fought that feeling by rapping at parties, and eventually people started calling me MC Chris. I was friends with punk bands, and they recorded on 8-tracks and sometimes made a beat that I could rap over. Sometimes a guitar string would break at a show, and I would go on stage and rap. That was the beginning of my role as MC Chris, and I started recording more and more songs.”
MC Chris’ opportunities grew when he moved to Atlanta to work for Cartoon Network. His role as MC P Pants on “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” led to his song “I Want Candy” becoming a surprise hit, and MC Chris saw there was an audience for his brand of hilarious, light-hearted raps about nerd culture like Star Wars and ninjas.
MC Chris left Cartoon Network to pursue a career as a touring rapper and became one of the pioneering voices of the burgeoning nerdcore music scene, gaining popularity at conventions and online.
“I never considered myself a nerd, but I did nerdy things,” MC Chris said. “I loved Star Wars, which was pretty normal in the ’80s. I loved comic books, which was less normal, and I didn’t know other people read comic books. I didn’t have any friends who read comic books. I played video games. Everyone played video games, but I played PC games like Kings Quest and various Sierra Games stuff on a computer in the basement during the summer months.
“I think the biggest change in nerddom is that the Internet connected all nerds together. Conventions became more popular and you felt less alone. When I was a nerd, I had no idea that people liked the things I liked. I didn’t share my interests with anyone.”
MC Chris currently lives in Los Angeles, where he is a full-time father to his son Tony and tries to find work as a screenwriter and voice actor.
“I still go to auditions, but the people who get cast are really, really good,” MC Chris said. “I think the reason I got cast on so many shows in the early 2000s is because I was an animator in the building. So many people saw me at parties and bars, I was just more part of the social scene. Now that I’m in LA, the competition is a lot more talented.”
In 2013, MC Chris pitched a cartoon based on himself to Cartoon Network. Although it was never accepted, the short, animated pitch is still available on YouTube, and MC Chris would love to tell more of the story one day.
“I haven’t given up on it,” MC Chris said. “I would still like to write it. Even if it never happens, I still want to write this story. I think about it almost every day and it’s a part of me that I want to share with everyone else.”
As for the nerd culture that currently inspires him, MC Chris is reading a lot of fantasy novels in preparation for an album about Middle Earth. He would also love to play Dungeons & Dragons, but in LA it’s hard to find a group to play with.
“I’m also entering my fatherhood phase where I’m interested in westerns, the Civil War and history,” MC Chris said. “I have a feeling I’ll be making albums about those things too.”
MC Chris’ next album will be Marvel-themed and titled “King in Black.” He expects to release it later this year.
Opening for MC Chris at El Rocko will be Crunk Witch, a nerdy bass duo from Presque Isle, Maine, and Heyday Guru, an idiot/alt-rock project by Chris Felo (Neckromance, Skydiver).
If you go >>
What: MC Chris with Crunk Witch and Heyday Guru
When: July 19, 8 p.m.
Where: El Rocko Lounge, 117 Whitaker St., Savannah
Cost: $15
The information: aurafestsavannah.com
Rescue operation completed at the site of the Russian attack on a five-story building in Kharkiv
Bands On The Beach Summer Concert Series at Wilton Family Y! – CANCELLED
Looking for love: Pet adoption party matches dogs with families for life
About The Author
