~Photos by Ryan Glover

By Ryan Glover

MC Lars is a rapper who is known for creating the genre of hip-hop know as “lit-hop” and he is currently on tour with the Chicago rock band I Fight Dragons.

Tuesday night in Somerville’s Thunder Road was a momentous occasion when the Stanford University graduate, Tedx speaker, and all around mic controller hit the stage with fans driving from as far as Portland, Maine and New Hampshire to witness the clever wordsmith live in the flesh.

The crowd wasn’t disappointed as Lars performed fan favorites such as Hurricane Fresh from The Laptop EP and Space Game from his fourth studio album, The Graduate.

He whipped the crowd into a frenzy when he performed True Player For Real, which is a song that features the legendary “Weird Al” Yankovich.

Lars seems the most comfortable when he is able to pay homage to the literary greats of the past, as with his Flow like Poe song. You can’t help but be impressed by his ability to spread literary awareness and nothing is more impressive than when he brings a little girl on stage who he calls MC Emmy whom he met at a show her parents put together at the high school in Laconia, New Hampshire. He brought her onstage as backup because of her ability to recite his songs verbatim – which is impressive – but when you couple that with her young age it is worthy of a viral moment.

Role Models in hip-hop

MC Lars is an accomplished individual, being an Ivy League graduate, working with institutions such as MIT to promote literacy, as well as his podcast work where he has interviewed industry greats such as Gary K. Wolf, the creator of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. You could call him something of a modern day Renaissance Man.

It’s often a tendency in hip-hop to glorify violence and sex, and from a moral standpoint Lars’s wholesome image where he raps about his passions for things such as video games, sci-fi movies, and even literary masterpieces is a rarity in hip-hop nowadays.

His brand of hip-hop is an ode to groups before him such as Ugly Duckling, and if you were to be more nostalgic, the emcee Lars reminds me of the most of would be Will Smith on his classic album He’s the DJ I’m the Rapper, with songs such as Nightmare On My Street.

With today’s rappers being applauded for catching criminal cases, trolling us with their claims of homosexual relationships such as Will’s son, the talented Jaden Smith, or even Kid Buu’s far-fetched claim of being a clone, Lars’s brand of hip-hop based in a fun reality and authenticity will be on the rise.

Hip Hop Knowledge

You could never accuse Lars of being a cultural appropriator because he has taken time to learn the culture and is a true fan of hip-hop, paying respects in his set to legendary groups such as Dead Prez. When he freestyles over the “Hip Hop” instrumental, the political group would be flattered.

One can’t but help but be impressed by his knowledge and love of the culture of hip-hop when he speaks about KRS-One’s book The Gospel of Hip-Hop changing his life. When I asked him about being the creator of Lit-hop he said, “Shout out to Baba Brinkman. He is the progenitor of it also.” That statement alone tells me everything one would need to know, that MC Lars would give props to the somewhat lesser known Canadian rapper.

Lars studies the craft of music and was a fan of groups such as Insane Clown Posse and Public Enemy while growing up, and got his start playing guitar and bass in punk bands.

Even with the musical influences of other genres its no denying Lars is a hip-hop head

MC Lars discusses being influenced by Stan Lee