Artists like MC Chris

Andrew Robert Nielsen, known professionally as MC Lars, is an American rapper, producer, educator, and founder of Horris Records. A graduate of Stanford University and the University of Oxford, he has been described as a pioneer of "lit-hop", a genre blending hip-hop with themes from classical and American literature. In a 2003 song, he used the term "iGeneration", which ASCAP credited as an early instance of the term. He has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall and multiple TEDx events. His work frequently references authors like William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and Herman Melville, and he is considered a key figure in the early nerdcore movement.

Damian Alexander Hess, better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer. He is widely credited as a pioneer of the nerdcore genre, blending elements of hip hop with themes from nerd culture.

Regan Farquhar, better known by his stage name Busdriver, is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles. He has collaborated with rappers such as Myka 9, R.A.P. Ferreira, Nocando, Open Mike Eagle, 2Mex, Aesop Rock and Radioinactive. His primary producers have been Daedelus, Boom Bip, Daddy Kev, Loden, Paris Zax, Omid, Kenny Segal, and Nobody. He has also worked with D-Styles on two albums.

Optimus Rhyme was a hip hop group from Seattle, Washington. Optimus Rhyme is most widely considered a nerdcore group because of the nerdy nature of their lyrics. The name of the band as well as the stage names of the members and many of their lyrics refer to the Transformers franchise. Their music is a combination of rapped hip hop lyrics with funk rock music. Optimus Rhyme formed in Seattle in 2000.

The Lonely Island is an American comedy trio formed by Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer in Berkeley, California in 2001. They have written for and starred in the American TV program Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Natassia Gail Zolot, better known by her stage name Kreayshawn, is an American rapper, singer, and music video director from Oakland, California. In 2011, while serving as a member of rap group White Girl Mob with her friends V-Nasty and Lil Debbie, she released the music video to her debut single, "Gucci Gucci", to viral success.

Ian Matthias Bavitz, better known by his stage name Aesop Rock, is an American rapper and producer. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip-hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was signed to El-P's Definitive Jux label until it went on hiatus in 2010. In a 2010 retrospective, betterPropaganda ranked him at number 19 at the Top 100 Artists of the Decade.

Teren Delvon Jones, better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien or Sir DZL, is an American rapper.

Claudia Alexandra Madriz Meza, known professionally as Snow tha Product, is a Mexican-American rapper and singer. Her debut studio album, Unorthodox (2011) was met with positive critical reception and led her to sign with Atlantic Records the following year. Her commercial mixtape, Half Way There... Pt. 1 (2016) entered the Top Rap Albums chart at number 15. Her other releases failed to chart, leading her to part ways with the label in November 2018.

Flobots is an experimental hip hop band from Denver, Colorado, formed in 2005 by Jamie Laurie. The band's origins date back 5 years earlier to a similar project by Laurie. Flobots found mainstream success with their major label debut Fight with Tools (2007), featuring the single "Handlebars", which became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio in April 2008. The band has released four studio albums and one EP, with their latest Noenemies being released in May 2017.

Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful production. The duo released four full-length albums: Nia in 1999, Blazing Arrow in 2002, The Craft in 2005, and Imani Vol. 1 in 2015. Gift of Gab died in June 2021.

House of Pain was an American hardcore hip-hop trio. They are also regarded as pioneers of Irish rap due to their Celtic aesthetics. Consisting of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy and Everlast, they released three albums: House of Pain (1992), Same as It Ever Was (1994) and Truth Crushed to Earth Shall Rise Again (1996). They are best known for their 1992 hit single "Jump Around", which reached number 3 in the United States, number 6 in Ireland, and number 8 in the United Kingdom.

Nora Lum, known professionally as Awkwafina, is an American actress and rapper. She rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, Yellow Ranger (2014), and appeared on the MTV comedy series Girl Code (2014–2015). She expanded to films with supporting roles in the comedies Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), Ocean's 8 (2018), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). For her starring role as a grieving young woman in The Farewell (2019), she won a Golden Globe Award.

Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind. In 1999, rapper Jus Allah joined the group to record their second studio album, Violent by Design. Jus left the group shortly after, but returned in late 2006 and began working on the sixth studio album, A History of Violence. In 2011 Stoupe left the group because "his heart wasn't in making JMT records anymore". In 2013, Jus split from the group indefinitely, and Stoupe returned in 2015.

Christopher Brian Bridges, known professionally as Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he first began rapping. Starting out with a brief stint as a DJ, he formed the record label Disturbing tha Peace in the late 1990s to release his debut studio album Incognegro (1999). After its single, "What's Your Fantasy", became a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the album was re-released by Def Jam Recordings as his major label debut, Back for the First Time (2000). The latter album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and spawned his second top 40 single, "Southern Hospitality".