Notas del episodio
On this special edition of Memory Foam, Josh and Vince sit down with independent rap pioneer, lit-hop originator, and longtime friend of the show, MC Lars!
Lars dives deep into celebrating the 20th anniversary of his seminal record The Graduate, navigating the early-2000s DIY touring grind, and how childhood loss shaped his lifelong drive to build meaningful artistic friendships. We cover everything from his master’s thesis on using hip-hop to teach Shakespeare, to taking Edgar Allan Poe to rural youth centers, crossing paths with "The Family 3" in Rochester, and getting surprised by second verses from hip-hop royalty.
Plus: trading tour war stories, what it was actually like working with Weird Al Yankovic, Dr. Doom verses from Kool Keith, deep lore on Disney’s The Black Cauldron, seltzer addictions in sobriety, and what’s next in the MC Lars universe.
Sink into your pillows and enjoy the conversation!
Timestamps & Chapters:
00:00 - Intro: Lit-Hop & DIY
01:52 - 20 Years of The Graduate
04:53 - Rochester Roots & "The Family 3"
07:20 - Lars on Cool Side of the Pillow in 2011
08:25 - Teaching Shakespeare with Rap
13:03 - The Edgar Allan Poe LP Album
15:05 - Life in Hell & Gary K. Wolf
17:48 - Memoir: The Nerdcore Years
19:33 - Weird Al & ICP Influences
22:00 - The Weird Al MySpace Story
24:52 - Merch & Cool Side of the Pillow Universe
30:20 - Anatomy of a Feature
34:28 - Writing "Signing Emo"
35:55 - K.Flay, Kool Keith, & KRS-One
40:00 - MC Frontalot & mc chris
42:30 - Dream Collabs: Steve Albini
43:20 - "Triforce" & Vulnerability
45:10 - The Black Cauldron Lore
48:46 - Current Music Picks
51:10 - Polar Seltzer & Sobriety
52:40 - October Tour Dates
55:10 - Outro
Links:
- MC Lars: mclars.com | IG: @mclars | YouTube: youtube.com/@mc_lars
- Merch, Full Video & Dream Submissions: CoolSideOfThePillow.com | IG: @coolsideofthepillopodcast