The world of music is enormous. Trying to compile an exhaustive list of genres, sub-genres, cross-genres and the like results in concussions from foreheads slamming against walls. Most artists don’t even like to attempt classifying their own work. 2D6 is different. 2D6 is nerdcore hip-hop, plain and simple. MC Cliff B and DJ Stuck Down A Mineshaft With a Broken Leg (DJ Stuck) have been friends since they met in high school at Austintown Fitch, where they inexplicably sat at the less-than-cool table and discussed topics like anime, pop-culture, games and whatever else crossed their minds. In 2003, DJ Stuck introduced MC Cliff B to the world’s 579th greatest rapper – MC Frontalot, the name-giver of nerdcore. Music from MC Chris, most well-known for his work on The Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim cartoons, and MC Lars quickly followed, until they were both engrossed in music that would go on to shape their musical careers. Not that it was nerdcore that turned them on to music. MC Cliff B spent eight years in choir before deciding to work on original music. DJ Shaft produced a few songs for www.SongFight.org under the name Everyone Likes Hats (winning two of his battles) and adopted his current moniker while working as a college radio DJ hosting a segment titled “Music For Geeks.” When they started working together on music, they still weren’t sure if they were going to tackle it seriously as a duo. “I put out a couple of EPs,” related MC Cliff B. “DJ Stuck did a featured appearance on one of them, but we still weren’t completely sure. We wrote together for over two years before we played our first show. It was at The Leaping Lizard in Cincinnati, and we only played it because our friend was getting married and they asked us to play at their wedding.” It was a good thing they did, because they’ve become known as a hard-working band that will play any gig, regardless of what genres the other acts represent. Their combination of talent and energy may be most comfortable with like-minded artists, but they’ve played with bands that perform everything from punk to metal – including last month’s NeoFest at The Lemon Grove. Part of their growing popularity can be attributed to the trending of nerd culture as a part of popular culture, and that doesn’t really bother them a bit. “It’s great for us as artists,” they said. “It helps us reach a larger demographic so we can capitalize on it. Some early adopters are slightly resentful of it, calling it ‘geek sheik’ and complaining that ‘this used to be ours.’ But we’re happy because it lets us reach as many people as possible.” MC Cliff B, who is a moderator on www.NerdcoreNow.com, continued, “and nerds aren’t as off-putting and offensive as a lot of other groups.” Another reason they’re accepted by the local music scene (besides being local musicians, obviously) is the effort they put in to making the shows fun. Whether it is dressing up in strange outfits or tossing an assortment of objects into the crowd during their performance, the duo is always trying to do something unique. “We do something different each time,” said DJ Stuck. “We’ve done Mad-Libs and we’d like to pull off a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure during a show.” Their performance is far from a put-on – they’re as nerdy off stage as they are on stage. When they were asked for their nerdiest moments, they had to sift through a laundry list before coming up with a favorite. “I ran a panel about obscure video games at an anime convention while cosplaying Dracula from Castlevania,” reported DJ Shaft. MC Cliff B brought up dressing as Dr. Robotnik (from the Mega Man series of video games), but changed his mind after some thought. “I was having sex and I yelled out ‘Leroy Jenkins!’ She started to laugh, but it unfortunately interrupted her climax. There was also the time I laughed like Krusty the Clown at the exact moment I started to climax. That was extremely difficult.” Extremely difficult, yes, but also fully nerdcore street-cred worthy. Since a lot of hip-hop’s lyrics revolve around sex, the question of their growing popularity and how it has impacted their love life had to be brought up. It was quickly cut short. “I haven’t gotten laid because of a performance,” laughed MC Cliff B, “I’ve gotten laid despite performances.” DJ Mineshaft added, “I’ve gotten hit on, but I didn’t hit that.” Their lack of a “rockstar attitude” can be attributed to the idea that nerdcore music is usually much more comedic than serious, although some people are hoping that changes and the larger music community will begin to take the subgenre more seriously. “Within the nerdcore community there’s a big division between people who only want comedy and those that want it to be a more legitimate art form,” said MC Cliff B. “Some of us are legitimately trying to put out good hip-hop, but stay nerdy. Our [2D6] niche is comedy, but I’m working on a solo album. Why can’t I do both? I can have a dynamic and interesting flow while still staying relevant to the nerd community. I’m legitimate as far as skill level. At the end of the day, though, we’re here to entertain the audience. As long as we do that, we’re succeeding.” Their CD, “Pat Benetar Told Us to Stop Doing This!” is certainly entertaining enough. With absurdly long song titles like “Homeward Bound is the Story of Some Dumb Animals Who Should’ve Stayed Lost,” it’s hard to know what to expect unless you listen to it. The titles have almost nothing to do with the content, as DJ Shaft explained: “We like to troll people sometimes, so we use really long names that have nothing to do with the song. Sometimes there’s a tangential relationship, but mostly it’s just fun.” The entire CD is available for free online, which you can find through their Facebook page (do a search for “2D6-music”), so there’s absolutely no excuse not to give it a try. They’re even better live, and you can check them out November 4th at O’donold’s Irish Pub & Grill. I’ll be there, and I’ll buy the first person to mention this article a delicious beverage. If you miss that one, they’re headlining a LemonRock Thursday show at the Lemon Grove on November 24th. Photo by Amber Furbee