MC Lars – The Graduate

Esotericism & the Frat Boy Mindset

Caucasian MCs have a hard road contending skills of Eminem and the longevity of The Beastie Boys for street credibility. Lacking either earns dismissal as some clown (i.e. ICP, MC Chris) or a biting wannabe. MC Lars is not far from this scenario. His latest, The Graduate, is a display of the usual frat boy mentality which plagues all white rappers while actually having things to say. He may never win a rap battle against Eminem or Mike D. but he’s not all bad, either.To his credit, MC Lars knows his pop culture. While sampling Iggy Pop, the Nintendo version of Tetris and Supergrass, he name-drops Ranger Rick, G.G. Allin, and Sartre. He also parodies Jay-Z rather convincingly on “21 Concepts” and takes Li’l Jon down a peg on “Generic Crunk Rap.” He also tackles current issues like downloading music (“Download This Song”) and internet dating (“Internet Relationships”) with wit and style that MC Paul Barman fans can appreciate.

Fun such as this doesn’t come without setbacks. “Roommate From Hell,” featuring MC Chris, is a slow beat with slow rhymes that drags far beyond its 3 minutes due to the sparseness of the track. Sometimes just a beat and a voice are needed, but not here. “Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock” and “Signing Emo” are accurate, but aimless rants at legions of Emo kids and bands that do nothing but express contempt.

MC Lars is a guy that could rock any dorm room or college auditorium. His permanent tongue-in-cheek, pop culture savvy rhymes will bring laughter to hipsters a-plenty. However, The Graduate firmly remains frat boy fun at the expense of current trends.