(Click here for Rhymetorrents.com/Nerdcorehiphop.org)
Who is High-C?
Bio
High-C is an enigma wrapped inside a riddle, consequently stuffed inside one of those double decker tacos. For the purposes of this page, we'll look at High-C in the context of Nerdcore Hip-Hop.
High-C began programming at age 10, writing games on the VIC-20, Commodore 64, and Apple 2e. He was a prolific reader of both sci-fi and comic books, and also studied electrical theory and morse code.
He adopted his rap name when he began writing raps in 1988. Unfortunately for him, he never practiced rapping them, as such, until 2002. Oh, sure, he rapped. But some would maintain he's still never gotten serious about the craft. His raps in '88 were naturally nerdy, but with an objectivist libertarian slant:
"My name is High-C in the rap vernacular
So listen to me, I'm about to rhyme spectacular
Kickin' and hittin', cold throwin' the shit
My brow covered with sweat and my mic with spit
I don't mean to offend but that's real life
Smashin' the state without a gun or a knife
Exposin' all suckers perpetratin' the fraud
And I'm doin' it all with no help fron God
I believe in myself, cuz I'm my own man
I want to help you out and I'll do all I can
I want to get it started but get one thing straight
The government is what I hate
Tax this, tax that
It's makin' me sick
Yo, if you want to tax somethin'
Tax my dick"
A dual-purposed MC, he was a metalhead, primarily, until 1984 or so, when Run-DMC debuted. Propelled by 'Rock Box', from that point on, he had a foot in each camp, both metal and hip-hop.
In 1994, he wrote what was his first clearly nerdy rap, "My Amiga". A Run-DMC riff about his beloved Amiga computer, it went thusly:
"My Amiga does shit that you wouldn't believe
And she's always got another trick up her sleeve
Multi-taskin', kickin' ass'n
Often doin' things before I'm askin'
My Amiga's satanic, my Amiga's demonic
I like to fuck with my Amiga when I'm smokin' chronic
Gin and Tonic? Don't spill it on the keyboard
Because there's no such thing as an Amiga store..."
In 1995, High-C became the full-time drummer for eclectic grind/thrash act Gortician, where he gained his promotion and stage experience. He would drum for Gortician at shows, and then rap as High-C at the end of the set, often doing a cover of the Geto Boys' "Mind of a Lunatic" as well as a few originals such as "Death Trip".
In a move that would prove fateful, he uploaded a bunch of acapella raps to mp3.com in 1997. It was during this time period that High-C did several Usenet Performance Art tracks with The Fucking Pigs and TINC Project, members of Usenet cliques dedicated to online mayhem. He is fond of saying he is the biggest troll since KIBO. He also appeared on Guntgrutcher's debut, "Ghetto Blaster", a 150+ song cybergrindnoisefunk album.
High-C used his Internet promotional prowess to make Gortician the biggest unsigned metal band in the world for several years. Gortician disbanded in 1998.
Shortly after September 11, 2001, High-C received two tracks from DJ Manticore of London, Ontario Canada. Made from two mp3.com acapellas, "Eternal Frost" and "Pope on a Rope" were early proof of concept demos that inspired him to work on more tracks.
DJ Manticore's work was brilliant, and 2002 saw the birth of probably ten new tracks under the name Meter Versus Yard, with some of the best instrumentals to grace what is now known as nerdcore hip-hop. That began a working relationship that has continued to this day, although work has slowed from that initial flurry of new tracks. In 2004, High-C had also allied with Kid Charlamaign, an Illinois artist who provides tracks consisting of real bass, drums, guitar and keyboards.
In 2005, High-C wrote himself up as a nerdcore hip-hop artist on Wikipedia, and was later deleted for not meeting notability requrements, along with artists such as Beefy and Jesse Dangerously. This led him to register nerdcorehiphop.org and rhymetorrents.com, the two most influential sites in nerdcore hip-hop.
Rhyme Torrents was a compilation disc of unreleased nerdcore that grew into a series, and launched the careers of countless nerdcore artists. These actions, in part, led to High-C opening for MC Frontalot in Baton Rouge, although there are rumors of strong-arm tactics being employed. High-C also produced a track, 'Nerdcore For Life', for Rhyme Torrents Four, which was the first NCHH posse track, and also the longest NCHH track to date, at 16 minutes and 13 MCs (funky49, High-C, Beefy, YTCracker, Lil Nix, MC Plus+, Doc Popular, MC Wreckshin, Sir-Up, Eggskin White, Benjamin Bear, Ham-Star and ZeroBitRate).
High-C's involvement with nerdcore in this manner led to his inclusion in Nerdcore for Life and Nerdcore Rising, two documentaries about nerdcore, although he was later cut from Nerdcore Rising because of time considerations, and the fact that he appeared drunk, cursed the crowd, etc. wearing his trademark "Fuck the Skull of Jesus" t-shirt, winner of the alt.binaries.tasteless competition from years past.
Divx, Inc. gave High-C a fistful of cash and carte blanche to bring a gaggle of NCHH artists to Vegas to perform at the Consumer Electronics Show. He also booked a show the night before at The Beauty Bar, where he proceeded to black out, and in what was to become a pattern, curse everyone present like dogs.
High-C also performed at Nerdpalooza Gainesville in 2007, and although he did get totally drunk again, managed to maintain his composure, more or less, and did what many considered his best performance yet.
In 2008, he was promised a closing slot at Nerdapalooza Orlando in exhange for promotional and organizational work, and was subsequently dropped from the bill by slimeball Rob Tobias after fulfilling his end of the bargain. It was High-C's efforts for Nerdapalooza 2008, working 20 hours a day for a week straight, that led to a teensy weensy nervous breakdown in which he comically cut ties with most of NCHH in a very public manner.
High-C is currently writing the first Nerdcore Hip-Hop movie, "Zombie Killa", for Troma Films, editing his first novel, and completing his third album's lyrics. Contact him here.
Discography
The Sad Early Years - Very old tracks, very terrible tracks, etc. This includes early work with Gortician, and the Usenet Performance Art era songs.
The Geto Boys' "Mind of a Lunatic" (With Gortician) - 1991 - Gortician had a drummer for a day named Matt, and Gortician got him to record the drums live with the rest of the band. Then he made everyone leave the room while he cut his vocals.
Death Trip (With Gortician and Razor Russ) - 1991 - This started out because Russ had some crazy rap lyrics. Tony Gortician knocked together a beat on a shitty Casio drum machine. High-C and Russ cut their vocals. It sounded terrible. But next week, Tony had added some Slayerish riffing, and the song was passable, more or less.
Godzilla - 1994 - Nerdcore to the max, except perhaps lyrically. This was cut using a Commodore Amiga; Audiomaster IV was the sampling program, and it's basically just a small snippet of Blue Oyster Cult's "Godzilla", which 3rd Bass used on 'Problem Child' for their second album.
Ugly Police Incident - 1996 - This came about when Office David (pronounced 'Dah-veed') knocked on the door to tell Gortician to shut their band practice down. Ultimately, it resulted in High-C getting a Battery On A Police Officer charge, which he beat. It also appeared on the Imbalance Records 'Experimental Dentistry' compilation.
Snuh Music - Rikijo and TINC Project - 1998 - This song came about because High-C was trolling alt.hackers.malicious, and Rikijo of Canada ended up faxing his way into Gortician's mp3.com account. Riki uploaded a track mocking High-C and Snuh in general, which was promptly made into an epic track by Doc Pete.
Death By Strangulation (With TINC Project) - 1998? - Doc Pete of TINC Project (There Is No Cabal) grabbed some acapella vocals from mp3.com and made this little number. He then used it to torture people.
Lackluster (With The Fucking Pigs) - 1998? - Ward and Scott "The Fucking Goose" Fucking Pig, along with The Black Friar, all from Australia, cut this track, using the same method, around the same time. Wonderfully horrible, as you shall come to understand.
Rick James' Crack Pipe aka Russell B. Goode - 2000 - Using some cut-up Van Halen, High-C was apparently stoned out of his mind when he cut this one. It used an unregistered version of Soundplay for BeOS to run the backing track. You can tell this because the song stops and the program says 'Register Me'... How geeky is that?
Fucktician (With The Fucking Pigs) - 2000 - High-C provides the drums for this particular bit of nastiness.
Brute Force Attack - This is the first more or less High-C solo album. It's a collection of self-produced tracks, collabs with Kid Charlamaign of Illinois, Meter Versus Yard outtakes, and work with other NCHH MCs.
Lawnclippings - 2003 - Produced by assface Will Seale. An interlude recorded at KLPI on Louisiana Tech University campus. Little Megan Gortician is the narrator, High-C is Tony, the hazardous cargo driver, and Cedrick Alum delivers the moral of the story.
The Anthem (2Thirteen featuring High-C, Ham-Star & T.Y.T.) - 2008 - A true NCHH anthem by 2Thirteen. It features a killer Double Dragon sample as well as a dope chorus provided by T.Y.T.
Flame Extension - 2002 - Recorded for an online battle with a kid named Flame Extension, which never actually happened. Luckily, it stands alone. A pastiche of disses and cultural references, over Sade's 'Somebody Already Broke My Heart' and Soundgarden performing Devo's "Girl U Want'.
When In Rome (Kid Charlamaign Rock Remix) - 2002 - Cut the same weekend as 'Flame Extension', it's a tribute to DJ Manticore over 'Caught a Light Sneeze' by Tori Amos. Kid Charlamaign provided the bass and guitar that made the original version irrelevant.
Bonghits and Sodomy (with Crackwhore Lewinsky) - 2000 - This is a track stolen from Crackwhore Lewinsky on mp3.com, turned into a song about how tobacco is radioactive. Covered by MC Inadequate, not once, but twice.
Schizo -
Divided States - Kid Charlamaign Bass Remix -
When In Rome (Magician's Birthday Mix) -
Meter Versus Yard - Continental Drift - Strictly tracks featuring instrumentals from DJ Manticore of London, Ontario, Canada. Manticore is one of the greatest track producers in the world. They were released between 2002 and 2008.
Playing Like An Angel, Grooving Like The Devil - 2002 -
Hop the Rock (Hello, Cleveland) - 2002 -
Filling the Box Back Up Again - 2002 -
Sex. God. Cherish. Caress. A Zero Score In Tennis. - 2002 -
Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand (Co-produced with moss_) - 2002
Variations in G-Funk Minor - 2003 -
Clone of the Attack - 2003 - (Remade with Lode Runner) -
How George Stole Christmas - 2003 -
The Axis of Good - 2003
La Violencia - 2005 -
Divided States - 2005 -
Coprophage (Music 2 Pimp 2) (with mCRT) - 2007 -
Big In The Mind (Andrew Octopus Cover) - 2008 -
Ghost In Teh Machine (with Veeps) - 2008 -
Collabs and Covers Command and Conquer -
Strictly for my Nurgas -
Live -
Geek Cred
High-C has been an internet celebrity several times, now. In the Golden Age of Usenet (TM), he was one of the biggest and best trolls of all time, winning Best Asskicker on alt.flame three years in a row, for instance. His usenet exploits are legendary as well as countless. His troll victims include the FBI, Terry Pratchett, Jean-Louis Gassee of Be, Inc. and Trip Hawkins of Electronic Arts. He's also been banned from almost every geek web forum worth mentioning, including Slashdot, Fark and Everything2.com.
As a Usenet Performance Artist, High-C took part in the Meow wars, and later took the word "Snuh" to new heights, along with his partner in crime Dean Humphries. The two were given a tip of the hat in Simpsons episode season 13, episode 21, "Frying Game", which features a verbal snuh cascade.
He first received international acclaim as Jason Gortician, founder of the Death Metal Music Association, which launched the careers of many underground metal bands, and was instrumental in the formation of the early online metal scene.
He also became a fixture of the BeOS scene as Sandwich Boy, when he took up where BeDope left off and created BeDoper. At the same time, he wrote several articles about Be, Inc. for OS Opinion which received quite a number of 'eyes'.
He was also a fixture in the shape-shifting reptilian community with Reptilianwatch.com, and even made it onto an 'Enemies of Freemasonry' website.
At the same time, in true nerd fashion, High-C is a serious academic and researcher with over 190 semester hours in IT, authoring papers such as 'Toward Ultimate Reality", in which he outlines the path future entertainment will take.
Shows
High-C has performed with: MC Frontalot, EPP, Zealous1, Benjamin Bear, Fanatical, Select Start, Nursehella, Magitek, mCRT, Random, Bushido Stylus, YTCracker, funky49, Monzy, MC Plus+, Ultraklystron, Doc Popular, Doomsday Device, MCDJ and DJMC aka Dead Circuits, and many others.