IamA teacher turned rapper named Random, aka Mega Ran. AMA.

One of the many things for which you are known are your insane freestyles where you invite the audience to hold up items which you incorporate into your riff.

What have been the weirdest/funniest/most challenging items you've encountered?

Full disclosure: I once held up a picture of a My Buddy doll on my phone at one of your shows. You handled it like the pro you are.

hey there! I appreciate that, the freestyles are always a fun time. The best/worst have been:

1) when a girl took off her bra in the middle of the show (through her sleeves) and held it up, that stunned me for a sec and 2) in Portland, when a girl held up a bong at a show and I said something like "I hope this doesn't get you arrested," and afterward, the security guard grabbed her, and might have kicked her out.

Now I tell people not to hold up anything that'll get you in trouble :)

I remember the My Buddy! awesome.

check out MC Supernatural for the real deal. This fool is straight biting.

Supernat is the greatest, a true legend. I think it's important to always give your influences their props, and he's one of my biggest inspirations. met him many years ago at Rock the Bells and we even discussed it, and he was totally cool. always catch that guy live if you can.

Ran, what is your CRAZIEST touring story (that you can tell in public)?

What up Paco! maaaan there aren't too many that are totally safe for the internet - But if i can do one with names omitted to protect the innocent, I've actually been on a tour once upon a time where almost every show went badly or was planned so poorly that we had no crowds, no promotion, and some were cancelled when we got there -- but we held it together and literally re-booked the entire tour while on the road, and salvaged it pretty well, while forging some rock solid friendships, when at the beginning it looked pretty grim. great question!

What would be your dream collaboration be? The person could be alive or dead.

Amy Winehouse, or Stevie Wonder.

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it's probably a guy you never heard of: Ohene. I owe so much of my passion and growth as a performer to a guy that I came up with in Philly. He helped me to refine what I had and is definitely the biggest inspiration as far as that goes.

Whose nerdcore am I not listening to, but should be?

well, pretty much anyone in the NPC Collective

Hey Ran - they're site is down for some reason. Any way you can provide the names of the artists in the NPC Collective so I can check them out on Spotify? Thanks and keep up the great work. I'll definitely be contributing to the kickstarter.

oh no!

check out: Richie Branson SkyBlew Kadesh Flow Sammus Doug Funnie 1-Up Mister Wilson Shubzilla EyeQ

that's a great start.

Thank you!

big fan of Tribe One, check him out too!

Game Consoles, Religion or Politics, what's the most controversial thing to address in a song?

• your boy Basim

ALL OF THE ABOVE.. but I think only one of those has actually lost me followers, and that's my choice of console... which i will not be sharing in this conversation.

honestly, people who would stop supporting me over a viewpoint just shows they weren't about the music to begin with, and I'm okay with losing those people.

What's up man? Who is your top 5 Philly MC's in the game now? I go with Black Thought, Reef the Lost Cauze, P Crack, Chief Kamachi and Crypt from Outerspace. Honorable mention are you and Beans. Also, thoughts on why Philly rappers get no love in Philly but shine everywhere else like out west and in Europe.

I always felt like Philly has some of the best rappers in the world. my top Philly 5:

Black Thought Beanie Sigel Reef Will Smith (don't hate) Young Chris

honorable mention to Peedi, Kamachi...Crypt is a beast! great list!

i think its the versatility -- even in the guys we named, they're all ferocious rappers... you only go to Philly rap for one thing...battle type rap... the only guys outside of that to get shine have been Asher Roth and Chiddy Bang, who both can hold their own.

Philly rapper I like: Supreem and the New Experience. This dude has been around forever and kills it every time.

Supreem Da Regulator? Lol. I remember him doing shows at LA Tazza and the 5 Spot back in the day. Saw him with that band a few years ago at Dobbs and he had the same energy. Good call.

yeah Supreem is a Philly OG!!

My wife and I are huge fans! Who's your favorite videogame composer, and what's your favorite game that they did?

so many favorites, Michiru Yamane, Koji Kondo, but the one i go back to the most is Yuzo Koshiro -- his Streets of Rage and Super Adventure Island are so great, but his recent stuff is awesome as well.

I loved the last documentary! Was able to catch a screening of it while you were in Portland this September. I've got a ton of questions, so I'll try keep it short!

What are you most looking forward to sharing in the upcoming doc?

Are you going to touch on music from any Capcom games that you haven't used yet on this album? (Any chance I'll ever get to hear you rapping on some Breath of Fire tracks?)

What kinds of equipment would you suggest for someone wanting to start getting into doing chip-hop?

I've got a fresh stack of $2 bills just waiting for you to come through Portland again! (In sequential order too!)

haha thanks so much man, i'll be ready for those $2 bills! I don't have any plans to do any Capcom games on this album, unless they are requested by Kickstarter backers! I'm looking forward to seeing what they choose.

Equipment: I'd say learn a tracker program. they're free, they just take time to learn. Famitracker is the most popular, and there are a ton of tutorials.

For me, I like to add some BEEF to a chiptune track, so after a tune is made in a tracker, I'd recommend learning a drum programming software/hardware combo like Maschine. you can get the same effect from Reason, or Logic with a good keyboard/pad like the Akai MPD.

Howdy. This year, you did a show in Vancouver, B.C. Would you recommend that more touring musicians make a stop in Canada?

definitely.. it's just so hard for indie artists to get up north due to border hassles...if you're not getting paid enough, it's not worth the trouble to get a work visa, but there's the chance you could get turned around.... but I had a blast out there and can't wait to get back to Vancouver.

I LOVE Forever Famicom. Any plans to work with K-Murdock again?

i work with him every week on The Manual! but he will be producing 3 tracks on this special Megaman album that will come out only if we hit 9000 on kickstarter!

Random! First off, you're amazing. My favorite work is your Nocturnal Cantata album and I hope you make more in a similar vein for different franchises. I can't think of any suggestions off hand but well, you're the mastermind. ;)

I caught you at Pub Rock a few weeks back. Great show all together and dang every other group was giving you a lot of recognition. You deserve it though. Hope to catch you at your next local show whenever that will be. Take it easy until then though, enjoy the weather. Finally cooling off here in Phoenix.

Oh, guess I am supposed to ask a question? Hm. Are you happy with your choice of career in terms of income and security? No need details of what your paycheck is, but how would you say things are in general? What is your current outlook for the future?

Thanks so much! big shout out to Sammus, she's amazing and I'm so glad we did that album together. I have a few other ideas for full game albums.

I'm happy overall. I don't make a lot of money, and whatever I make goes right back into merch and cool projects, but I'm fulfilled. at the end of every day I know that I worked hard for myself and did the best I could do. Things are decent, but it makes me a lot more frugal now, not knowing when the next gig is. I'm very positive for the future, with this Directors Cut and the next album, I'm ready to make some huge leaps in 2016. Thanks for the question and comment!

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hey there! we talked about a GnG3 this year but time was too short. we'll be back for sure. Richie's in the VPC challenge so that took up a lot of time and I was on the road, so it wasn't in the cards this time..... but stay tuned, I like surprises.

Hey guy, Director of Megalomania here. Any questions for me? Feel free...

i have a question! how many man hours would you say went into the documentary?

1.) Hey man, now that Skyblew's album is out there (hopefully doing well because it's awesome), do have plans on working with more artists in a similar way?

2.) Are you going to be at MAGFest? I've missed you like the last 3 times you've come through, so it would be dope if you're for sure going to be there.

3.) Since you're kicking it and playing games, what are you catching up on in your free time?

Hey there!

1) yes I was (and still am) very proud of how SkyBlew's been received by my people, I'm a huge fan and his stuff needs to be heard. I look for artists that I like, and that bring something special to the table.. one very small caveat is that they're clean, as that's such a rarity in hip-hop.

2) YUP just got announced. Hope to see you there. There's also a MAGfest perk on the kickstarter page for anyone thinking about gong.

3) catching up on Watch Dogs, Destiny, Walking Dead Season 2, and Alien Isolation right now. Just played through the new CoD and I was pleasantly surprised. Got a lot more stuff to play!

Very awesome man. If you've got an Xbone, and ever wanted to play what's essentially Infamous and Saints Row merged into one game, I recommend picking up Sunset Overdrive if you've got the cash and time to play it.

YES!!!! hearing great things about it, it's on my list.

Hey MegaRan, longtime fan! Have you ever considered doing more educational hip hop? Your song Buggin' was the catalyst for me checking out Metamorphosis and is responsible for my awareness of Kafka at all.

Also, do you have any rituals to get into stage mode?

best username ever.

yes indeed, songs like Buggin and Me and The Mouse and Maya's Song are some of my favorite tracks to do, because they remind me of being a kid and doing book reports-- i always drew or cut out and glued papers to my book report covers to make them stand out, that's what i try to do now on the songs.

Best steak in Philly?

kinda depends on what part of the city you're in. My best one is Max's, on Broad and Erie, best for the buck is Pagano's, on Ogontz, they're huge. I don't do Pat's or Geno's, but if i'm in south Philly Tony Luke's, Ishkabibbles or Jim's.

Hey Ran, we've met twice now---once in 2011 in Columbia SC when you were touring with mc chris (http://i60.tinypic.com/2vnnads.jpg) and again a year later in Charlotte NC. My fiance first heard your music at the show in 2011 and you quickly became one of his favorite artists. I just wanted to say thanks for opening up that door to nerd rap for him!

Also, do you think you'll ever come back to Charlotte or maybe somewhere in the Upstate of SC?

hey you! I was in Charlotte a few months ago... I play there a lot, it's one of my favorite places. So I'll be back there in the spring, i'm sure of it. stay tuned to my calendar! megaran.com/shows

If you could have dinner (and/or drinks) with three video game characters (from different franchises), who would they be?

Nathan Drake, Old Snake, and Pac Man. i'm sure they've all seen some stuff.

Will Forever Famicom ever be on vinyl? Thanks for all the work n great music!

Nope. That's not even possible. no vinyl pressing plant in the world will approve all the samples we put on that album. they think they'd get sued. Not gonna happen, unfortunately. there IS a 7" single vinyl though... might be sold out though.

I don't think I knew that. You might be able to get away with it now; should look into getting permission.

that album was what, 14 tracks with like 12 different developers haha.... very hard work to get all those people to sign off.

Name a couple semi-obscure video game series you'd like to make an album about but worried it wouldn't be appreciated.

Also, any thoughts of another series of albums that tells a story like TeacherRapperHero?

Goonies 2, Shadowgate, Out of This World

Yes I want to do another installment of Language Arts, I have a lot of plans to expand that universe... so one day!

All of your fans wanna know. What's the most bomb-ass breakfast cereal out there right now?

DOG. Cinammon Toast Crunch all day... or Cinammon Life. That's it, that's all.

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I think I do, when people laugh at my jokes, or download new songs, or tell people that I did something super nice for them :) I feel like I get it back tenfold... i guess 100 fold would be if everyone came to every show, or backed every kickstarter, or bought every album, haha.

But I appreciate it all, and it does more for me than I really can explain.

Ran!!!!! I've obviously asked you a million questions before but I'm gonna put you on the spot with this one...

Is there anything in your career that you regret? Any song you wish you never released or album you pushed out too quickly or even not going full time rapper sooner?

Jimmy!

this is a great one.

I have a lot of career regrets that I try not to dwell on but here are a few...

I wish i never put out Patches and Glue so soon after the release of Mega Ran. I love that album and it kinda got lost in the hoopla of Mega Ran, but I wanted so badly to prove to people that I could be well-rounded. I feel like I wasted that concept.

I wish i never said "I ain't mad about Kanye's comments/I'm more mad they call Kanye conscious." on "Still Ain't Good Enough." I'm a huge Kanye fan and I just didn't think it was necessary for me to call him out, when he's conflicted just like every other human.

and I DEFINITELY wish i'd gone full time with music sooner but I was afraid...hard to turn down regular paychecks and stability... in 2009 i believe, when i got laid off and did my first tour with Mr. Miranda, I came back and took the first job I was offered, when I should've just tried this whole full time music thing then, I feel like those 2 years teaching, I was just sleepwalking and denying my purpose. all in due time i guess...

What rhymes with orange? haha, jk... /orange guy

door hinge

:)

When are you doing the next KIA Music, and how many bars should I record for it? ;)

More seriously, thanks for making great magic and looping me in on any of it. It's a lot of fun, and it's helped me get comfortable with producing for people outside of my IRL circle.

Oh and congrats on the AMA, the mixtape, the tour, the dash radio show, the podcast and SkyBlew's debut on Random beats. That's quite a year right there.

haha thanks man! it's been years since the last KIA Music... might be due for a new installment... what are you driving?

yeah its been a crazy year man, looking to do even more!

lol...I'm huge fan of Richie Branson. Please do a Japan tour with him?

i heard he's mean!

Are you familiar with the work of The Last Emperor?

VERY MUCH SO!!!! an amazing artist (from Philly) and arguably the first nerd-rapper. I played a show with him once and his perspective is so unique. Great guy.

One of my favorite deep cuts from Black Materia is "Escape from Shinra Tower", which is perplexingly set to the boss battle theme "Force Your Way" from FF8. Why did you decide to use that track on your FF7-themed album? What does FF8 mean to you, and is there any chance you'll do a full album for it someday?

Thank you! I just thought that track captured the feeling of that escape scene much better than what I had planned to use from FF7.

FF8 is a possibility, who knows.... I loved the game a lot at the time, but haven't replayed it in a while. hopefully though, if someone grabs the "your own album" perk on kickstarter and picks that, I'll need to go grab a PS1, haha.

1) What was the worst part of Hip Hop Today? and what do you thing there is some semblence of the old school style in todays hip hop?

2) Now that Seth Rollins is the top guy in the authority where do you see his career going?

the worst part of hip hop today is the best part: Thanks to technology, it's too easy to produce a record that sounds like it can compete with what's on the radio. This makes a lot of people try to do it that probably should just enjoy what's out there.

I hope Seth Rollins has a really long and strong career. I can see the potential for sure. Him and Ambrose can fight every week on Raw and I'd be happy with that.

Wait... You're a wrestling fan too! So awesome.

yup!

Two questions: 1. Did you ever find your phone after the Wichita show? 2. Per Edward, what would it take to bring you back through?

We'd love to see you again. It was a hell of a show.

i did, it was mailed back to me in Flagstaff!

umm a promoter, that's all. if you know anyone that wants to bring some Ran out there, have them message me!

Hey ran! Who is your favorite group/artist to tour with and why?

I toured twice with Open Mike Eagle and I'd say he was my favorite act to play with. He's a very deep thinker, so our conversations on the road were always great, plus he brought it every night, but with such a contrasting type of energy that makes him and I a good pairing. Hope to do that again sometime.

The first time I ever heard about you was on Beyond!, since that I'm a fan of your stuff, follow you on Twitter, etc... My question: Have you seen a surge in the last couple days in people that seem to be following what you do? Thx, and continue doing what you want, it's great!

Hey there! yes i have, but I don't pay attention to numbers.. I just do what I do.... if there's been a surge i'd hope it was because of my hard work! though it could have been the Beyond appearance :)

Hey Ran!

Between conventions, festivals, arcades, or just your typical rock bar... which do you prefer to perform?

i love really small dive bars -- that feeling is one you never really get tired of. I dig the intimacy and it reminds me of when I first started.

My man, Ran! Great to see you here. We need to catch up soon.

If you were to develop a non- Mega Man related game, what would it be?

indeed! if i were to build a game, it'd be a side scroller that utilized RPG elements and a huge world map, and multiplayer, where you'd need teamwork to get through obstacles and stuff.

Hey random, how you doing today? Just wanted to take the time to thank you for the music you've put out so far and will continue to do. I've enjoyed your music so much to the point that it's my daily commute jams. Keep up the v awesome work!!!

i'm doing awesome! thank you and keep on keepin' on.

What is your favorite comic store in America?

is this a trick question? Super-Fly Comics of course!!

Hey MegaRan! Been a while since I've seen you live, but every time I did you would kill it. Both times was with Elzhi out in LA. The airliner and the Keyclub. Idk if you remember me, but I was the dude who was always outside 2 hours before doors open, haha. Glad I've stumbled upon you while trying to catch Elzhi.

Always killed it, and love your freestyle while holding up items.

I used to listen to Panacea back and realize K-Murdock was the producer.

How did you and K-Murdock find one another?

OH man of course I remember you! thanks so much for coming out! I remember you being maaad early and staying all night, I appreciate that!

Yes K and I stumbled onto each other in the same ironic fashion. he was a radio host on SeriusXM and I sent them some of my CDs to play, he liked the Mega Ran CD so much that he messaged me about a collaboration album, and that became Forever Famicom.

Hi there Ran! I saw you at BJoe's in Buffalo with Brentalfloss and Armcannon... you were AWESOME and that's when I became a fan. Here are my questions...

1.) The Language Arts saga contains a lot of songs that sound like they hit real close to home with you and I imagine they might've had a lot to do with what was going on in your life at the time. Which of those tracks are most personal to you?

2.) A few of your tracks convey a message that some people don't belong in the "rap game" and should just stay in their lane as a fan. How do you you ride that line between weeding out the "posers" and encouraging people to pursue their dreams?

3.) Now that you're chilling in the Southwest, do you have any plans to come back up to the Buffalo area? The 716 misses you, dude!

1) yes that was a very personal record to put together... I was living in a really small apartment, contemplating everyday to leave teaching, but too scared to chase my dreams. I met every fear head on in that album. The most personal are "Love is Not Love" and "Everything" by far, these are real conversations I've had with people.

2) i think a lot of that talk is very general "boast rap" that comes from an earlier part of my rap-life. I don't speak about anyone in particular when I say those types of things, it's just what you'd say if you were in a battle against someone. Nowadays, I feel like anyone and everyone should be able to make music and pursue their dreams. I encourage it.

3) it's too cold in Buffalo! I'll see you guys in the summer! :)

Thanks for coming to Omaha. You were really cool when I met you. I assume if there was a tour coming up you'd say something... but...

• Any touring planned for next summer?
• If you could tour with anyone for the first time, who would it be?
• If you could tour with one person/act again, who would you pick first?
• Top 5 Influences
• How/when did you decide "I'm going to be a rapper." and how did that work out?

no plans yet. I'd love to tour with Anamanaguchi or The Protomen or The Megas. I'd love to tour with OME or Danimal Cannon or brentalfloss again. influences: ll cool j, fresh prince, prince, marvin gaye, the roots, mf doom i decided it when i was fed up with my main job, and then my 2nd job started supplementing my income. i knew it was time.

Premier or Pete Rock? Choose...

hey, what's that over there?

It was cool meeting you in Boise last month at Tomodachi Fest (We were the improv group there) - You were amazing!

What's your favorite Mega Man game?

you guys were hilarious!

my favorite MM game is 3 overall, though Top Man is probably the worst boss and weapon in the entire series.

Hey Ran, I need to catch up on your music, but like others have said your freestyles live are the best. Saw you with Adam Warrock at NAP a few years ago and I was in stitches.

Speaking of NAP, what do you think about it's downfall and the possible recovery of nerdcore festivals?

thank you! I'm really sad about the way Nerdapalooza fell, I just can't help but to think that it didn't have to go down that way. I've never run a festival, admittedly, but the end of it and the subsequent mess seemed to be unnecessary. But out of the ashes came Orlando Nerd Fest, which went really well in my eyes.

When you were a full time teacher and part time rapper, were your students largely on board with your music? or did they pull the traditional cynical-teen move and dismiss it as lame?

i didn't tell them too much about my music, but eventually they'd find it... I never knew how. But kids are kids, so whenever I'd freestyle in class or play them a video they'd be like "meh." but then their parents would come in and tell me that they couldn't stop playing my songs at home on youtube, haha.

MC Chris: Whiny primadonna or same dude on/off stage? That confession crybaby video he made a few years back was laaaaaaame.

when i quit my job in 2011, he offered me my first big tour, and i only met a lot of you because of that tour. I'll always be grateful for him for looking out for me. We have a great relationship today, but it wasn't always so smooth...

the first day i toured with him in 2011, he almost kicked me off the tour, first day, ha. I made posters with his name on them and my own, and he told me i couldn't sell them because that cut into his profits. I threw them all away.

then 3-4 weeks into the tour, he had a guy who he had met that day at a comic shop, open our show in Chicago, when we never had any local openers the entire tour. I asked him why he put him on the show, he said "I just thought it would be cool to do something nice for someone, I never had anyone do anything that cool for me."

mc came onstage and introduced the kid, and let him do a few songs, and the guy told me later that it was the greatest moment of his life.

fast forward to when the whole reddit-gate went down, I saw him the day after that, in Baltimore, and when i met him backstage, he cried... like real tears, cried. he was really sad about what he had done and was sorry. he really felt like he was doing the right thing to protect a friend.

I say all that to say that like most people, he can be hard, and he'll admit it. he's had a rough lot in life so I wouldn't judge. but he can be the sweetest, most thoughtful guy at times, and he's learned a lot from that situation so I wish him all the best.

What sort of 'games and stuff' do you like?

i'll play any kind of game.. 90s RPGs, sports, shmups, fighting, anything i can find!

You seem to be collaborating with a different artist almost every time I discover a new track of yours. You even seem to be featured on albums of other artists pretty frequently. How do you keep up with all of the amazing acts that seem to want to work with you?

I don't work with EVERYONE that asks me, but if I like what they stand for and they make cool art, I'm usually willing to work. How do I keep up? Well, I only do what I can, and what works for me.

1. What programs do you recommend for a beginner who wants to try their hand at Chip Hop?

2. What age did you begin rapping and why did you start?

3. When was your first ever project? (I don't mean The Call, I mean that FIRST foray into the rap world that you hide from people lol)

4. WHEN ARE YOU COMING BACK TO LONDON(I discovered you just after you left :'( )??

1. I'd say get on logic and use YMCK's magical 8 bit plugin, for an easy start.

2)I started at 16, so I've been doing this over half my life. I started because I wanted to be a part of what was going on at the time... Wu Tang, Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Biggie...it was a great time.

Huge fan! See you in Seattle every time you come around!

What do you look for when you're looking for a beat to rap over? Where would you recomend an aspiring noob pick up some beats?

I just look for one to match the moment and the feeling i have at that time -- so it all depends. But all the pieces have to come together, but they have to be dope separately too... like nice, hard hitting full drums, strong bassline, bright melodies... it's a feeling more than anything though.

Aw man I showed up here too late. In case you check back...what were some of your influences when you did Black Materia (the FF7 album)? That is one of my favorite video game-themed albums of all time, it was outstanding!

the game itself was the biggest, but I went back and studied pretty much every concept album I'd heard up until that point.. Tommy, Dark Side of the Moon, and my favorite, Arthur by The Kinks. I'd play 2 hours of FF7, then listen to an album, then write... for about 7 months straight. fun stuff.

No! I'm late!

I gotta know: Was this you?!

http://youtu.be/7lO50u6-8lU

Loved that album in high school! I originally got it from 8bitpeoples dot com. My buddies and I got so much chip music from that site.

no no that random is from sweden, we get mixed up and confused for each other all the time, which is why i use the "aka Mega Ran" to differentiate. i did a rap on one of his tracks in a collaboration once though.

Hey Ran, any possibility of some Mega Ran X happening?

anything is possible.. there might even be some X on the secret Megaman project I want to put out.

Just found you from this AMA.

Amazing work! Love it! Never stop doing it!

Do you ever do comic book raps?

hey there! yes i have done a few:

*Played A Fool *Bedrock City - recorded in a comic shop in Houston *Miles Morales

there are more out there as well.

Any chances of touring in Minnesota sometime in the future? I'd love to see you live.

I'll definitely be there this spring! I love MPLS.