On merch

We nerds are a creative bunch, and I’m not just speaking in terms of music here either. A lot of folks -- specifically in the nerdcore scene -- are not only gifted musicians, but exemplary visual artists and designers in their own rights. And that brings me, interestingly enough, to the matter of merch.

Let’s face it, conspicuous consumptions is a muthafucker. Still, if you support a style, a cause, an artist, or a brand, I can’t see anything wrong with giving ‘em a little bit of free pub. The purchasing of merch is, in its own way, a very genuine expression of your goodwill. It’s a way to both show nerd love and stimulate the economy! And it just so happens that I know a handful of noble merchants who could use the ducketts.

My pal Beefy, for example, has a really swank t-shirt designed to hype his preferred genre of music: nerdcore hip-hop. I even hear-tell he’ll send you some free Beefyness.com logo stickers if you ask him nicely.

Baddd Spellah also has an excellent nerdcore design that you can have emblazoned across your chest, head, crotch, or pet! Never before has a human skull looked so dapper, elegant, and intelligent.

Seminal nerdcore hip-hopper MC Fronatlot has a dizzying array merch to choose from. From t-shirts to stickers, CDs to glasses; Front has yo’ monkey-ass covered efficiently, affordably, stylishly.

But sometimes, dear readers, artist merch isn’t about the dough. Sometimes it’s more about fostering some name recognition. Sometimes it’s simply about the ego boost you get when you see your name on a t-shirt. By that token, Benjamin Bear has put together a nerdcore superstore of sorts for many of the Rhyme Torrents contributors. The Nerdcore Store boasts a fine selection of wares from some of your favorite musicians. In order to keep prices down, the parties involved have elected to charge the bare minimum for the items in question. This means that neither Ben nor the other artists make a profit from the sale of this stuff. Any “credit” generated simply serves to afford expansions to the store itself, allowing for more items. Think of it as a way to not only display your love for acts like 1337 GEEK BEAT, but to support this growing community.

Mr. Bear was even nice enough to whip up a Hipster, please! t-shirt. The clever gamers among you may realize that this particular item parodies a shirt worn by a certain Capcom protagonists. I can’t imagine anyone actually purchasing one o’ these, but it’s nice to know that a meager blogger like me is actually considered a viable member of the scene. How’s that for nerd love?