Mar 24 2006
MC Lars
I’m aware going into this that there isn’t a way I can post this without losing at least some credibility with some of the people who read this thing, and I’m comfortable with that.
The man you see to your left is Lars Horris (edit: apparently his real name is actually Andrew Nielsen, proving why I shouldn’t be allowed to write about things I don’t know). He’s a rapper. No, seriously, he is. He raps under the slightly more rap name of MC Lars. My initial reaction was that he must be a joke, but I’m doubting that more and more now.
Lars describes himself a “post-punk laptop rapper”. It’s a reasonable description. All of his songs are created on a laptop, and this seems to be his only backing when he performs live too. As for the post-punk bit, there’s a bunch of punk and rock samplings in his songs, and he even gets other bands to regularly feature in his work. He’s also incredibly post-modern. So much so that he “doesn’t even exist”.
The thing of it is though, to someone who has no idea what represents good rap or hip hop type music, I find his songs to be incredibly catchy. I haven’t quite worked out whether or not this is down to the fact he’s good at what he does, or it’s the nerd appeal that drags me in. By nerd appeal, I mean the slew of clever references to everything dorky, from using netspeak in his songs (LOL, OMG, yo, BRB) to entire songs about science fiction characters (HAL-9000 guests on one track) and a bunch of other things like Myspace, Netflix, emo bands and a new game he’s invented to replace Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, this one featuring Kurt Cobain.
He’s also very, very angry. About everything. The lead off single from his new album, ‘The Graduate’, is entitled ‘Download This Song’, and it’s not in the least bit ironic. The entire thing is a tirade against the RIAA and their ilk. He’s angry about punk posers (’Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock’), and the state of the world in general. Hell, he’s still angry about an old roomate from college.
MP3 MC Lars - Download This Song (expired)
MP3 MC Lars - iGeneration
MP3 MC Lars - Hurricane Fresh
The main thing about all of this is that I don’t know whether or not I’ve been had. Even if MC Lars is attempting to be a serious rapper, does he know he won’t be taken seriously in rap circles so is just throwing in all these references just to appeal to the dorks like me? If I’m honest, I probably would give him a second look if he was rapping about the generic crap most rappers do. I suppose it doesn’t really matter in the long run, as I like the songs, and that’s the part that matters.
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Hey, just thought I’d chip in, his name’s actually Andrew Nielsen. Lars Horris is just his hip hop pseudynom, he’s also pretty much dropped the Horris bit… But yeah, he’s awesome!
[...] For those you just joining us who may be unfamiliar with Lars, he’s a “post punk laptop rapper”. You can read my previous entry about him here. At the time I had no idea that he was touring the UK, or more interestingly to me, was playing in a relatively local venue. As such, the three of us will be heading down to the Tunbridge Wells Forum to see him perform. Which should be interesting if only for seeing just how much Simon and Adam think he’s a crime against music. I should think the same really, I don’t like rap and should find all of this rather pathetic, but I find him far too awesome, catchy and nerdy to dislike it. I mean come on, the guy is wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles jacket in that picture. Who could hate him after that? [...]
i LOVE this guy. :)