Mega Ran — aka Raheem Jarbo — is a nerdcore rapper whose music celebrates all things “nerd.” And while this might seem like a niche genre, Mega Ran is a bona fide star within it, and his fanbase extends around the world.
His music career changed in an instant a decade ago when one of his songs went viral on Reddit. His lyrics are nostalgic and inspirational at once, drawing on Jarbo’s childhood experiences entrenched in the world of gaming.
In 2021, Jarbo spoke to The Show about writing a memoir and composing his own video game soundtrack.
Mega Ran performed for KJZZ at “Air Apparent,” artist James Turrell’s Skyspace on ASU Tempe campus. He’s on tour now and will be playing in Phoenix this Friday at The Trunk Space in downtown Phoenix.
Full conversation
RAHIM JARBOE: Well, nerdcore rapping, I think the easiest way to describe it is just, you know how rappers are usually considered the coolest person in the room? We are the guys who are not so the guys who normally get you don't look like a rapper, or I would have never known you were a rapper. Usually those preface our concerts or conversations. But basically, we're the kids who are products of technology. You know, the nerd aspect of it is just things that we are very passionate about that the greater society may call it nerdy. So it might be comic books, it might be video games, it might be anime, it might be cartoons, it could be anything. But those things are so prevalent and dominant in the world of entertainment these days that I feel like it's a lot more relatable than anyone ever thought it could be.
GILGER: Absolutely I mean, so I've heard many of these references in your work, but give us some of the top ones. Like, where are you? Where are you pulling your inspiration from the nerd world?
JARBOE: Well, pro wrestling, comic books and video games, for sure, mostly retro video games. I found a lot of inspiration in those.
GILGER: How does that work? Are you just using things from your childhood or using stuff you're into now? Are you looking at Reddit and seeing what people are into and then looking at that and writing about it? Or is this more organic?
JARBOE: A little bit of awe, but mostly it's very organic, very vivid childhood memories. The things that I can't get out of my mind, or the things that I write about. I have very specific moments of I remember sitting in front of my, you know, four model television or my little black and white in my room and playing video games until I just literally couldn't see straight or, you know, and just remembering those very, very vivid moments. Whether it's A musical cue in a game or a sound or a moment where you uncover the big secret or beat the final boss, those moments are forever instilled in me, and so those are where I get my inspiration from when I write songs.
GILGER: How does that cut through? Like I imagine this gives you a direct line to a certain, it turns out, really big audience, right? Like people who can listen and hear like you said, like a tone, like a sound from something, like a video game when they were kids. And go, I know exactly what this is, and I'm with you.
JARBOE: I imagine that I was the only person who had these memories. And then when I released these projects, people were like, "Oh my gosh, I remember that too. Oh man. That took me back to a moment," and I just realized through doing this that I'm not as weird or different as I thought. And then you put out a record about it, and then you've realized that you're reaching an entire audience of the entire world, that people find it very relatable and and we can share experiences so most of my concert time before and after shows is usually spent talking to fans about how those moments affected them in the very same way.
GILGER: So let's back up for a few minutes then and talk about how this all came to be, because it's quite a story as well. You were not always a rapper. You were a teacher, in fact, and sort of made the transition. Did you always rap though? Is rapping always part of your life? Maybe on the side?
JARBOE: Yeah, I felt like it was one of those things. I had to sit down to take life seriously. I remember my mother saying, like, All right, now once you graduate from college, like, you got to sit all those things down. She's like, well, now it's time to be an adult now. So yeah, I taught middle school for five years. I did a five year sentence. Almost, almost felt like I felt like a jail sentence. I mean, middle school is probably the most challenging time to teach students, because they are literally going through changes in real time. And I've actually found some sort of connection to them through my love of video games and hip hop, you know, where, if I mentioned something to them, where I see me playing a song in class, they're like, "Oh, wow. What do you know about that song?" You know? And we'd be able to relate to each other on that level, which helped me to get a level of closeness with my students that a lot of my older peers were not, you know.
GILGER: What did they think when you said, you know, I'm leaving, I'm gonna go do this full time?
JARBOE: That was a really emotional time for me, because I didn't want to leave these kids hanging, you know, like I'm sure many, you know, adults had in their lives. But at the same time, I felt like there was no better time in the present. And I felt like I could really impact, you know, a bigger group of people by doing what I think I'm meant to do, because this thing just does not go away. You know, the more I travel, the more I teach, the more I do other things. The love for music keeps coming back. So I just feel like I have to try this. But I felt so bad, you know, just leaving these students, but one of my kids is a kid named Javier, one of my kind of challenging students. He would always, often challenge me, but he gave me something so profound when I told him I was leaving, he said, you know, "Mr. J You're, you're actually teaching us a really important lesson right now that it's important to go after the thing that you really love," And I was just like, "oh, wow, that was very emotional. It's very deep, Javier. Like, where'd you get that from? Yeah, you're teaching us to chase our dreams, man. Like, this is, this is important stuff, you know?"
GILGER: OK, so you're gonna do a song for us now? Tell us what it is.
JARBOE: Yeah, this song is called "Comeback Player of the Year." Now, the album is mostly about basketball and the importance of basketball and using a lot of the sports metaphors to explain life and with us hopefully coming out of the pandemic, I feel like the best description is an award that many sports give out, called the "Comeback Player of the Year." It's when that person who persevered the most gets rewarded for that. And I think, honestly, we as citizens trusting science, wearing masks, doing what we had to do, we're the comeback players of the year.
GILGER: All right, let’s hear it.
GILGER: OK, let's talk a little bit about that, that next phase, because you have seen quite a bit of success and are continuing to grow. I mean, your mom, you know, told you you need to do something more serious with your life. Are you surprised it's been this successful? You've been able to take it this far?
JARBOE: Yeah, it's been 10 years, you know, as of last spring. Sharing since I've stepped away from my teaching position to make music full time, and that sounds insane, like having a 10 year career in music without being, I don't know, on MTV or selling out stadiums is truly a miracle. We're just, just very lucky. We have a really dedicated group of fans, friends, audience members, I call them family. And my mom now she can't stop talking about when I pull up to pick her up, she's telling a neighbor, ‘oh, that's my rapper son. He's a star. He's just one Phoenix rapper of the year. And he's traveling. He's been to Japan,’ you know, and she just can't stop gushing. I'm very, very proud for her to be proud of what I'm doing and what I've done in a positive way.
GILGER: All right. And let's have you take us out on a song now. Mega Ran, tell us about the next one you have for us.
JARBOE: This song is probably the, I guess, quintessential Mega Ran song. It's called "Dream Master." It is loosely based on a video game called "Little Nemo The Dream Master." And it's about a kid who just has these enormous, larger than life dreams, and when he goes to sleep, they're just so vivid, and they feel so real, and I feel like I've been a little bit of the "Little Nemo The Dream Master" myself. Because although this life that I live now is something that I couldn't even imagine, when I sit down and I think about what I would have loved to be doing in my life, a lot of it looks like what I do now. So I'm very fortunate. And this is the story. So if anybody wanted to know, like the story of Mega Ran, it's in this song, "Dream Master."
GILGER: All right, take it away.
