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MC Lars: Joker or Superstar?

Ari Bendersky

26 January 2005

MC Lars, who went to Stanford University (but seems somehow connected to Scandinavia – he even has a song called “Straight Outta Stockholm”), is a little bit hip hop and a little bit pop rock (think Donny and Marie if they had emerged in 2005. No? Ok, I wasn’t buying it either). He’s as white as they come, but manages to rhyme pretty well, name-checking every pop culture reference you can think of – and not just tabloid fodder. He talks about TV, movies, gadgets. He even samples the Scorpions’ “Rock You Like a Hurricane” while rapping “Oh snap you know this track is fly/So get crunked up and don’t ask why.” Genius songwriting. No really.

The jury’s still out on this one, but if for nothing else, it’s fun to listen to his “post-punk laptop rap” and laugh your booty off.