Christopher Brendan Ward (born September 2, 1975), aka mc chris (lowercase no dots) is a rapper and former writer/voice-actor for [adult swim]'s Williams Street production house. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Hesh in Sealab 2021 (of which he also served as an assistant animator) and M.C. Pee Pants in Aqua Teen Hunger Force. While he doesn't self-identify as one, he is generally considered a Nerdcore rapper, with raps that generally focus on pop culture, comics, films, etc. His albums are known for having humorous skits throughout that have developed a continuity of their own, following a fictional version of chris as he rises to fame, dies, comes back from the dead and continues his rap career. He is currently working on the "mc chris show", an animated series with chris as the main character.
Tropes in his works:
- Concept Album: Many of his EPs and albums revolve around a particular storyline illustrated in various skits. These range from a thwarted meeting with John Bowie (Life's a Bitch and I'm Her Pimp), Chris being bullied as a child before ultimately shooting his tormentor dead (Knowing is Half the Hassle), Mr. Chandler having Chris assassinated to boost the fledgling sales of his past albums (Dungeon Master of Ceremonies), Chris coming back from the dead as a zombie to try to get revenge for his murder (mc chris is Dead), Chris getting sent to Hell (Part Six), Chris winding up back on Earth sans his soul (mc chris Goes to Hell), Chris and his friends trying to make a podcast episode centred around the premiere of the previously mentioned Race Wars movie (Race Wars), Chris' ghost getting sodomized by the robot from the Rocky Balboa movies before being reunited with his body (Foreverrr), to battling Freddy Krueger (mc chris is Dreaming). Also of note, his collected Friends and Foes tracks are each based on a particular Batman character.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": His actual name is "Chris", and MC is just his job description... but if he's not called by his full alias, he's just known as "mc"... there's almost no point where he's just called "Chris".
- Fire and Brimstone Hell: During the skits on MC Chris's albums, Chris himself ends up sent to hell, and it's portrayed this way.
- Happily Married: To his wife Alex, which they managed on
less than US$100:"Ceremony at City Hall. Reception at Gray's Papaya. Limo service courtesy of the MTA. My ring is made of wood from my grandfather's barn before it got torn down. My wife and I couldn't be happier." - Jet Pack: "My backpack's got jets", from Fett's Vette
- Sawed-Off Shotgun: In the Childish Gambino collaboration, "Tru Dudes", "From the P.M. to the A.M. I'll slay 'em with the sawed-off"
- Shout-Out: To Marvel Comic's William Stryker, Wallflower, Elixir and Kang the Conqueror in "Nrrrd Grrrl"
- To Emily Strange and Marvel Comic's Cassandra Lang in "Nrrrd Grrrl" as well.
- To Anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, Marvel's X-23 and Hellion, the film Serenity, and the Bronte sisters.
- To Ghostbusters' Annie Potts and Egon, the film Lucas, the videogame Animal Crossing.
- To Star Wars in "Fett's Vette"
- Small Town Boredom: "White Kids Love Hip-Hop" has a spoken-word monologue by Andy Merril along these lines.
- The Stoner: The song "Wiid" (sic)
- You Cloned Hitler!: The song called "006" featuring a villain called Robot Hitler Head.Fuck you Robot Hitler Head, I'll never join you! You expect me to believe that's Hitler's body? What a bunch of bullshit!
- Zombie Apocalypse: His return from the dead starts one, as chronicled in the song "mc chris is dead".I'll wait 'till the day's end when the moon is high
Then I'll rise like the tide with a lust for life
I'll amass an army, yo I'll harness a hoard
And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore!
