SUPERCOMMUTER: Chip-Hop’s Finest

This past summer, I was scrolling through footage on Youtube about events that occurred at PAX Prime 2011, an awesome gaming convention in Seattle, Washington, and I came across some videos of a chip-hop band that performed that weekend called Supercommuter. Supercommuter is a nerdcore hip hop group headed by Optimus Rhyme’s lyrical frontman Wheelie Cyberman, Game Boy musician Stenobot and Producer Tron Juan. After watching a few of their videos, Igot their two albums (their latest, Products of Science, was released this past summer) and haven’t stopped listening to them since. The combination of Wheelie’s verbal dynamics, Stenobot’s ear for beats and Tron Juan’s production skills has made this album stand out amongst other rap groups in their creativity and generating unique sounding rap songs. Let me present to you four reasons why you should add Supercommuter to your holiday wish list.

1) Supercommuter donates every dollar they make out of their music to Child’s Play. Child’s Play is a charity set up by Penny Arcade that helps bring toys, cash and video games to sick children at hospitals. Let me put this in another way, every Supercommuter song you buy goes not to the band but goes to make a sick child’s world a little brighter.

2) Their live performances are not to be missed. Nothing annoys more more about a band if they can’t sound as good on stage as they do on their record. Their live performance of Life is Splendid at this year’s PAX PRIME is an example of how great they sound. This particular video was the one that officially made me their fan.

3) They have melodies that would make Kanye West envious. Supercommuter’s music goes beyond chiptune music (Stenobot can rock a Game Boy like no other) and incorporates a lot of different instruments. Check out the video below. The song is called Life is Grand and it’s just a piano and gameboy. This is my favorite song from their first album, Supercommuter.

4) MC Wheelie is one of us. He was a web supervisor at Nintendo and his raps are full of video game and science fiction references. The song Life is Grand is believed to be about the game Katamari and It is Splendid reminds me a lot of David Bowie’s Space Oddity. The next video below, Obey The Moderator, is about Wheelie’s his experiences as a forum moderator for Nintendo. Now Obey The Moderator did not originate with Supercommuter. It was song made by Optimus Rhyme, Wheelie’s previous rap band. However I love how Stenobot was able to take this classic and style it into a Supercommuter song.

For you, this is a win/win proposition. Check out more of their music on their site and hear how good this band is. Even if you don’t have a taste for nerdcore rap, any money you donate could help a child enjoy these holidays just a bit more. Support independent artists and support Child’s Play!