To MC Chris' chagrin, there's no 'I' in nerdcore

Before he became the reluctant king of the nerdcore movement, Chris Ward, aka MC Chris, was instrumental in launching Cartoon Network's Adult Swim late-night programming. But after writing and lending his voice to shows such as "Space Ghost Coast to Coast," "Sealab 2021" and "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," MC Chris discovered that rapping about Star Wars and sampling "Transformers" was his true calling.

"I would do karaoke at the Star Bar and rap over songs by .38 Special," he recalls, "and my friends were like, 'People would watch that. I eventually moved up to Brooklyn and just started recording albums full time."

Though he was quickly labeled as the founder of nerdcore, MC Chris has continuously pointed out that the movement is somewhat nonexistent. He even sacrificed a scheduled feature on "60 Minutes" to avoid perpetuating something he says he didn't believe in.

"They were going to do a nerdcore feature and I didn't have the heart to say, 'Please do this article about me,'" he says. "I was trying to express to them that there is no Eminem 8 Mile moment where all the nerds are waving their protractors in the air. So they killed the story. I'm just not one to perpetuate myths, but at the same time I love Joseph Campbell."

MC Chris continues to do things his own way, self-releasing all of his albums, which contain comedic songs and skits. His latest is being released as several EPs — the first of which, Part Six Part One, came out in March on Whoa Oh Records — over the course of the next few months, with a collection of the EPs and bonus material due in November.

Though he appreciates media attention and its benefits to his career, MC Chris remains adamant about his stance against nerdcore.

"The one thing I'd like to see the press do is let it go because there's nothing really to report on," he says. "If I could change the world in any way, it would be cool if people would ask me questions about myself. Most people that I talk to aren't really that interested in me; they're interested in talking about Adult Swim or nerdcore — which is totally fine. At least they want to talk to me."