A few years ago – pre-Magazine33 – I was lying on my couch, flipping through the 400 channels of useless shit on cable (this was after all before the dawn of HD and an additional 400 channels of the same shit you'd see in those first 400 – only in HD!).  While under the right circumstances and with the right chemical enhancement I found reruns of Scooby-Doo enjoyable from time to time, this particular night I just wasn't feeling it.  However, as my glazed red eyes watched as yet another loop had been completed with still nothing of quality, I let it rest on channel 17 for a second. 

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to forget the trivialities of my hum-drum life, when I heard something that broke through the delirium.

“Hesh wants sex!”

I opened my eyes to what at first appeared to be a rerun of a bad mid-70s cartoon called Sealab 2020.  Then that voice, that unmistakable voice that is somewhere between a prepubescent 10-year-old and Gilbert Gottfried levels of irritant began to rant more and more.  I was intrigued.  After a 15-minute adventure into over-the-top humor, another show was coming on.  Now this was the first time I sat and watched Adult Swim; I was unaware it even existed.  The cable guide said the next show was Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  I'd seen the name before flipping through the channels, but had written it off as some kind of ridiculous kids show.  This time, I let it play.

Within the first few minutes I saw a talking meatball dancing to some rap song on a boombox.  The voice was high-pitched and eerily familiar.  The lyrics, though ridiculous, were oddly catchy, and the whoever had them had an unmistakable flow to his rhymes.  During the credits, I saw the voice for the rapper who played the diaper-wearing spider MC Pee Pants was actually someone named MC Chris.

And so it began.  Over the years I would come to love and embrace the art of MC Chris' music.  He's the hip-hop loving half-pint who has revived rap music with his original mix of gangsta rap style bravado with clever pop culture and nerd culture references.  Album after album, he has consistently improved upon his style with beats reminiscent of Dizzee Rascal and the forefront of British hip-hop. 

I have had the pleasure of seeing one MC Chris show at the 9:30 Club in D.C.  I have been waiting for him to come to our area for a while, and the other day, I saw it on his website:

10/16/2011 – Carrboro, NC at Cat's Cradle

10/17/2011 – Baltimore, MD at the Ottobar

The time has come.  Check in next month for the MC Chris interview ...

MCChris.com

By Director, Genre Lead, and Editor: Andrew Wolfe

The Wolfe was born to a small litter in the mountains of West Virginia and transplanted to suburban Virginia Beach in the iconic year of 1984.  Left to the public school system, he soon became immersed in the varied subcultures of suburbia. Quickly he became a connoisseur of the rich substrata of disaffected youth in post-Reagan America.  Having to leave corporate tool-hood behind, the Wolfe prowls the silent alleyways in search of the next great spark of local music - the incendiary device that will reignite creativity in a music world gone wrong (apparently in the throes of Bieber Fever).

And other fun facts ...

Age: 33
Place of Birth: Parkersburg, West Virginia
Gender: Raoul Duke
Religion: Gonzo
Likes: Good music.  Drinking.  Smoking.
Dislikes: Ignorance.  People who take themselves too seriously.  People who say "I just wanted to touch bases with you."  It's "base" asshole, not a baseball reference.