{"id":69408,"date":"2022-07-22T08:53:13","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T15:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/?p=69408"},"modified":"2022-08-09T06:53:58","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T13:53:58","slug":"firefox-presents-nerdcore-rap-lex-the-lexicon-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/internet-culture\/firefox-presents-nerdcore-rap-lex-the-lexicon-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"Firefox Presents: A nerdcore rap artist defying expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As far as music subgenres go, nerdcore hip-hop wouldn\u2019t exist in its current form without the internet. Those who create it \u2014 self-proclaimed nerds who rap about video games, science fiction or just everyday life as a misfit \u2014 record music at home, collaborate via web file transfers and find cheerleaders out of strangers online. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how Alex Sun Liu, who goes by the stage name LEX the Lexicon Artist, found her people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liu learned how to beatbox through beatboxing forums as an overachieving teen in Taiwan. While perfecting violin solos and being top of her class, she traded pointers with beatboxers from Germany and France. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now 28, Liu has expanded her repertoire to three nerdcore albums and has toured with like-minded artists across the U.S. She raps about her psychology degree while referencing Descartes. She rhymes about hookups with jokes using hotel chain puns. In a music video for a track titled \u201cPeep Game,\u201d<\/a> she talks up her skills while lying on a bed of marshmallow chicks. It all sounds very offbeat, and that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRegardless of how weird you are, there\u2019s always going to be a pocket for you to exist in,\u201d Liu said. \u201cIf you\u2019re a goth, there will be a goth scene for you. If you love metal, there will be metalheads. If you\u2019re a certain type of queer, there will be a queer community<\/a> for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"LEX
Photo: Nita Hong for Mozilla<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She credits the internet for expanding her world outside Taipei, and later, Berkeley, California, where she attended college, saying that \u201cyou don’t realize how limiting your locale is until you get on the internet and realize that there are so many people all across the country, all across the world, doing similar things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to other Bay Area musicians like spoken word artist Watsky and Daveed Diggs of \u201cHamilton\u201d fame, Liu is inspired by the South Korean singer Psy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe embraced what made him unique and doesn\u2019t conform to what people expect K-pop to be,\u201d Liu said. \u201cHe\u2019s middle-aged, not a perfect Ken or Barbie, but an amazing dancer and rapper with incredible charisma and star power. He turned his \u2018Gangnam Style\u2019 internet moment into a long-lasting global career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Liu\u2019s not a household name (she holds a day job as a booking manager for a New York City arts venue that \u201cspecializes in nerdy entertainment\u201d), her fans are very engaged with her work. They show it through supportive comments on Instagram<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>. Liu may not share a fan base with the hip-hop artists who formed her musical inclinations in Taiwan (Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent), but her verses have found the right corners of rap internet \u2014 where listeners not only appreciate a good beat, but also lyrics about embracing your weird. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She cites \u201cArtist Anthem\u201d as a fan favorite, a track about being a creative person set to poppy melody. Released in 2018 as part of her first album, \u201cRaging Ego,\u201d it starts with a verse introducing herself as an artist who not only writes her own songs but does it well. From there, the song takes a turn: \u201cI am an artist and I hate myself!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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