Hip Hop (previously)
Curtis, better known as Nerdcore, was supposed to be the gangster-like, street-stylized head of marketing at MyMusic. As his old name Hip Hop suggests, he is a fan of hip hop and rap, and usually talks like a stereotypical rap artist. If mad, he usually threatens the victim with his personal gun or another weapon, due to his Detroit street-like attitude. However, he secretly leads the double life as a nerd, which was at first he only confided with Flowchart about, but eventually admitted it to his other co-workers.
Background[]
Little is known about Nerdcore's early life. While he claims he grew up on the streets of Detroit, it was revealed in actuality he was a poser, and rather a huge nerd named Curtis. He is known to give cello lessons to Lunch, a member of ROTFL:BRBTTYL:) and has two turtles: Captain Eo and Frodo. He also participates secretly in rather nerdy activities such as Minecraft or Call of Duty, however he denies any form of being a poser. It was revealed in Trolling and Jolting that he has 6 nipples that he tells people that they are bullet holes. In Cover Up, it was revealed that he had a previous intern job at the butterfly sanctuary at the national history museum. He used to have a childhood crush on Gadget from the 1990s children's cartoon Chip 'N' Dale: Rescue Rangers.
Following Loco Uno having Indie firing the staff, Nerdcore openly admits to being a nerd. Since then, he has fully embraced this side of him. He has since made nerdy references, and in Divorce?, dressed up as Steve from Minecraft and stating that hip hop clothes aren't who he really is. However, he still likes "ass".
Biography[]
Season One[]
After the MyMusic website shut down, the company went into bankruptcy but fortunately Idol secured a YouTube channel and partnership for the company, and Hip Hop was hired to manage MyMusic's economy in any event of another crisis, as stated in It Begins Again (pilot episode). Later, Hip Hop only briefly appeared in the company meeting introducing their new employee, Metal, the Head of Production. Later, when Metal was searching for a desk, he didn't let him borrow his. Eventually, Metal grew restless of not having a set workspace and started a rebellion. Hip Hop attempted to keep him in line at gunpoint, but it failed when he was distracted by Scarfman, in which Metal took the gun and locked everyone up in the conference room.
When Metal's daughter, Rayna, comes to the office, Indie and Hip Hop team up to figure out how Metal could have a teenage daughter at his age, as well as where the glitter was coming from. They first started to investigate Metal's case, theorizing adoption, stepchild, and ghosts, which Hip Hop is afraid of. Eventually, they give up and ask Metal himself, who is glad to tell the tale. However, neither Hip Hop nor Indie is satisfied with the response and asks Metal to tell it again, but including more ghosts this time, much to his frustration. After they solve Metal's case, Hip Hop begins to investigate the glitter lying around the office. He first interviews Scene when she mentions glitter, but is frustrated to find out she wasn't involved in the glitter bombing. His investigation led him to find candy, a pacifier, a "big ass Mickey helmet" (Deadmau5 helmet), and an unconscious person. Later on that day, they interrogate the person, from which they realize Techno & Dubstep were behind the glitter and there will be a rave last night. They go to the rave, and Hip Hop intimidates the ravers to agree to Indie's terms.
When Techno & Dubstep bring in the latest hip hop dance sensation group, Hip Hop was seen walking into the office. When he recognizes one of the members, he gets threatened by that fact that someone who knows he is a closet nerd is in the office, and flees. When Lunch confronts Hip Hop about his odd behavior, he tells her to keep quiet about it. During a company lunch the following day, he sees Lunch talking to Intern 2 and assumes she's revealing his secret. After an internal monologue about what to do, complete with an angel and devil version of himself on his shoulders, he resolves to kill Intern 2. However, just as he is about to do so, he stops, unable to kill a fellow employee. He then confesses to Intern 2 his secrets, saying he is maintaining his poser ways because he does not want to end up like Old Metal. Intern 2 agrees to hide his secret, but is shot by Hip Hop as Indie walks by. Eventually, Hip Hop starts revealing his secrets to Intern 2, to his annoyance. As the group's music video is being filmed, he gets involved in a heated argument with the staff, only stopping when Dubstep said to stop. When Idol finds a Daughtry playlist on Hip Hop's desk, Hip Hop was scared of being fired, until Intern 2 takes the fall to bail him out. Hip Hop repays the favour by preventing Intern 2 from being fired, as well as give staff members a new understanding of each other.
Later, as they were discussing guests ditching them, it is discovered that Scene mentioned the group 4Chan in the taping of MyMusic News. Hip Hop left as he understood the danger they posed to the office. He then informed Intern 2 of how dangerous the group can be, saying that (after Scene's avatars were killed) they killed his avatar, Marvin. He is then seen trying to make Scene into a Hip Hop version of himself, but decides not to after she didn't take his secret hobbies seriously. He then welcomes the old Scene back.
Eventually, when Indie prepares to leave for vacation, he decides to appoint Hip Hop as the temporary leader. However, Hip Hop produces a doctor's note saying he can't do it. This lead to a selection by darts, in which Idol is chosen to fill in. This leads to a divide between the staff, with Hip Hop taking Metal's side because, according to him, "it was the only line I got in this episode". The group is split even further when they can't agree on a show, with Hip Hop and Scene pairing up to make a show about booty. Hip Hop then finally dissolved his group when he realized Scene didn't know what type of booty he was talking about. The staff reconciled after they realized they shared a mutual hatred for the video Techno made about "the importance of friendship", and created their show preview, only for it to be stolen and mistaken for a baton by Relay Runner.
Nerdcore almost getting eaten by a rat
Later, when Loco Uno tried to dig up some dirt on Hip Hop being a poser, he successfully avoided the bait. This proved to save him, as when Loco exposed all of the staff for posers, he maintained his calm, even when Loco ripped up a life size cardboard cutout of Harry Potter. Ironically, he was the only one not fired from the staff, despite being the biggest poser in the company. However, Hip Hop guiltily let his secret out of the bag, wanting to be fired with his fellow employees. This backfired him, however, as he was instead taken away by the Rat Protector. He then spent the next few weeks suffering with the rats. He was saved when Old Metal helped him out, and left Old Metal in the basement. After escaping, Hip Hop returns to his family. He returns to the office with Idol, Metal, Techno & Dubstep, and manages to expose Loco Uno for a poser when she quoted Daughtry.
Season Two[]
Hip Hop seems to have embraced his nerdy personality. He changes his name to Nerdcore in Saying Goodbye :(, and makes his last appearance in the series finale, where he revealed that Straight Edge's avatar was not only cheating on Scene's avatar, but he has an avatar wife and kids and an avatar drug dealer, shows the owner of Straight Edge's avatar dog fighting ring, the debt collector of Straight Edge's avatar's gambling addiction and the former family whom Straight Edge's avatar murdered, causing the rest of the staff to be shocked, and the baby boy to pop out of Tina's belly immediately afterward.
Trivia[]
- So far, Nerdcore is the second character, after Idol, whose actual first name was revealed on the show. However, his full name, according to his secret Tumblr account, is Curtis Armstrong, which is actually based on the white actor of the same name, who played Dudley "Booger" Dawson in Revenge of the Nerds. The episode "Revenge of the Nerdcore", which was removed due to a copyright claim as of June 2020, was actually a mashup of the film and the character Hip Hop now changed to Nerdcore.
- His avatar, "Yo-Yo Marvin" is a reference to famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma
- Yo-Yo Marvin was created in 2008 and killed by 4Chan in 2010.
- His favorite food is turkey.
- Nerdcore is the only employee to have a positive relationship with Indie.
- Nerdcore is also the first character to break the fourth wall in the series.
- Nerdcore is the only fired/disposed employee not to get a hipster replacement, since he was fired after the new hires.
- In Single Ladies, Nerdcore sings Hard Knock Life. This song was originally from the play Annie and later covers by Jay-Z. That's why Scene says "playing some old school Jay-Z" Nerdcore says that's what it is but there was some discussion it was really the Annie version.
- He plays the cello.
- A different version of Nerdcore was played by Alex Staggs in New Intern?
- In the 54th episode of The Mosh, Stand Up For Yourself and Healing & Dealing, Nerdcore is accidentally called "Hip Hop" by Rayna. Nerdcore would later be accidentally called "Hip Hop" by Loco Uno in the 19th episode of Tumblr Tuesday.