Living in Florida– home of Nerdapalooza and Orlando Nerd Fest— has left me closely familiar with the nerdcore hip-hop and pop scene. Some of the most unique, memorable, and catchy songs in existence have been born from the primordial ooze of nerds with microphones and something to say, and I’ve met a lot of my favorite friends in the scene because of it. For example:

With a tightly knit community of such kind and talented individuals, it comes as no surprise that the nerdcore scene is now raising money for charity. With the help of our friends at Groupees.com, powerhouse artists such as MC Lars, Professor Shyguy, Sammus, and Wordburglar– among many more equally talented folks– are already more than $1,000 along the path towards benefiting MyMusicRx, a “music medicine” site for young people battling cancer and other serious illnesses. MyMusicRx offers exclusive artist greetings, concerts, music lessons, digital instruments, and more for patients in need. I don’t know about you, but that’s music to my ears, and so is this:

For the uninitiated: Nerdcore and its common sub-genre Nerdcore hip-hop focus on alternative voices rapping and singing about alternative, often geeky topics. The godfather and main enabler of the genre is generally agreed to be MC Frontalot– the world’s 579th greatest rapper– who has an incredibly unique style and flow. He has been known to discuss everything from text-based computer games to “stoop sales”, which are like yard sales, except they’re in Brooklyn:

Make no mistake, though: Nerdcore hip-hop is hip-hop. The idea of expressing yourself against adversity and judgement goes back to the earliest roots of the genre, and “nerds” doing the same are fighting an equally artistic battle. It would be a mistake to simply label Nerdcore as “geeky” and write it off. Seriously, don’t be that guy.

If you want to support MyMusicRx, Groupees, and help get the music of Nerdcore into the hands of the people (like you), you can name-your-price for the benefit bundle at Groupees.com/Nerdcore. I highly recommend the music itself, and I certainly recommend that you take a moment to support a good cause if you’ve got the scratch for it. If there ever was a time for “shut up and take my money”, now is that time.