YTCracker
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| YTCracker | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Bryce Case, Jr. | |
| Also known as | YTCracker | |
| Born | August 23, 1982 | |
| Origin | La Mirada, California, USA | |
| Genre(s) | Rap/Hip Hop, Nerdcore, Electronica | |
| Years active | 1998–present | |
| Label(s) | Colorado Beach, Nerdy South Records | |
Bryce Case, Jr. (b. August 23, 1982), otherwise known as YTCracker (pronounced “whitey cracker”), is a rapper, former hacker, and Internet entrepreneur. YTCracker began producing rap music in 1998 in the genre that has since become known as nerdcore hip hop. His early work mainly focused on documenting and amusing the participants of the America Online hacking scene. YTCracker is a self-proclaimed "jack of all trades", also making a name for himself as a professional disc jockey, computer programmer, graphics designer and webmaster.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Childhood
Bryce was born in La Mirada, California, USA to parents Bryce Case, Sr. and Mary Case. His father was an electrical engineer by trade and moved the family back to his father's birthplace of Colorado when Bryce was 2.
From a young age, Bryce was exposed to computers by his father and mother, learning to program BASIC at age 4. From there, his father taught him how to navigate MSDOS and System V. Before long, he was involved in the local bulletin board systems and learning various other programming languages by reading books and examples.
Throughout school, he was involved in extracurricular academics including the math, science, and chess clubs. He also pursued fictional writing, placing second in the Betty Field Memorial Writing Contest in 8th grade. He was accepted into both SAIL and the International Baccalaureate program at General William J. Palmer High School in Colorado Springs.[citation needed]
[edit] Ties to the Computer Underworld
In 1999, Bryce gained notoriety, media coverage, and a hefty restitution bill for defacing the web site of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, along with other government websites. [1]
These defacements launched him into the spotlight, making him a resource for the media, commenting on other hacking-related events, such as the denial of service attacks on Yahoo, eBay, and other well-known websites in 2000.[2]
[edit] Professional Career and Adulthood
Bryce dropped out of high school at the age of 17 to focus on a career in the information technology field. At 18, he took a job as a technical support representative for Gateway, Inc.. Shortly after, his then-girlfriend Jolene was found to be pregnant. At this time, Bryce took a senior systems analyst position with Ford Motor Company's Auto Finance division.
Bryce and Jolene married on October 26, 2002. Their daughter, Isabella, was born March 15, 2003.
After leaving Ford, he took a job as a data strategist for MCI's Mass Markets division, authoring various web-based tools for the company before being laid off in the summer of 2004. It was at this time that Bryce decided to focus less on corporate work and more on personal interests.
Bryce and Jolene separated on October 15, 2005. They filed for divorce on May 12, 2006.
[edit] Entrepreneurship
YTCracker's first company was Digital Gangster Enterprises, LLC. Initially organized in 2001, its sole purpose was to focus on music promotion and production in the Colorado Springs area. Eventually it branched out into more online ventures, including various website assets.
YTCracker then partnered with longtime online friends and spamtec groupmates phlow and eGod, focusing on utilizing income gained from their online web properties and investing into brick-and-mortar businesses and real estate.
[edit] Music
Not only does YTCracker often find himself creating promotional songs for various web sites, he also performs (as both an MC and a DJ) at many events. Most notably, he has DJed for a party of thousands at Club Ice in Las Vegas, and performed alongside such musical legends as Xzibit, Cypress Hill, Digital Underground, George Clinton and Too $hort at the infamous Players’ Ball. He also received a writing credit (credited as “whitey cracker”), for his contribution to PIMPANDHO.COM (NWS), a song by famous rapper Too $hort on his 2003 album Married to the Game.
Aside from traveling around the country as a disc jockey, he recently held a weekly residency at Club Eden in Colorado Springs.
Most of the songs by spamtec are pro spam and YTCracker claims to have drawn income from this market in the past (link).
[edit] Downloads
He is a firm believer that music should be free. Since 1998, he has sporadically released his songs as they’ve been completed. In late 2004, he and rhyming partner phlow released stc is the greatest , a compilation of their works as the duo spamtec. The album was comprised of background instrumentals that are common on the file sharing networks, giving the music a familiar sound to the musicians who frequent these downloads.
[edit] Releases
In May, 2005, he released NerdRap Entertainment System, (download), a seven song album. Six of the tracks had been previously unreleased. All of the beats on this album are original reworkings based on background music from Nintendo Entertainment System games. This album features a little something for every geek, from tributes to Surge, to introspective rhymes about the hardships faced daily by nerds across the globe.
spamtec released their sophomore, double-disc album, still the greatest in December of 2005.
[edit] Discography
- stc is the greatest (2004) (as a member of spamtec)
- Nerdrap Entertainment System (2005) (solo effort)
- still the greatest (2005) (as a member of spamtec)
- Rhyme Torrents Volumes I & II (2006) (Nerdcore Hip-Hop Compilation)
- Nerd Life (2006) (solo effort)
[edit] Media coverage
[edit] News and Periodicals
- Kahney, Leander. Cracker Launches Attack on NASA. Wired News. 23 Nov 1999.
- Frank, Diane and Trimble, Paula Shaki. Feds leave doors open for hackers. CNN. 22 Dec 1999.
- Walsh, Chris. Local hacker says he's good guy, alerting sites of security. The Gazette. 12 Mar 2000.
- Nieves, Danielle. Teen accused of raiding city Web site. The Gazette. 10 May 2000.
- Hu, Jim. AOL security breach exposes personal info. cnet news. 16 Jun 2000.
- Fusco, Patricia and McWilliams, Brian. Hackers Again Strike AOL. internetnews.com. 19 Jun 2000.
- Brenowitz, Stephanie. Suspicious Minds. Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education. 1 Sep 2000.
- McWilliams, Brian. Spammin is Slammin. Spam Kings Official Blog. 19 Oct 2004.
- Andrews, Robert. Rap Marketing Comes to Nerdcore. Wired News. 23 Jun 2005.
- Shephard, Chuck. News of the Weird - Wack MCs Who Hack PCs. Orlando Weekly/syndicated. 28 Jul 2005.
- Gizmodo. Gizmodo - Ytracker (sic). Gizmodo. 22 Sep 2005.
- Slashdot. Review: Nerdcore Hip-Hop Compilation CD Project. Slashdot. 12 July 2006.
- Thomasson, Roger. Me So Nerdy. Wired. Sep 2006.
- Patterson, Eric. L. Feature : Five Albums We Couldn't Live Without. Play Magazine.
[edit] Books
This list was compiled utilizing Google's Book Search with this query.
- Scott, A Hugh. Computer and Intellectual Property Crime: Federal and State Law. Washington DC: BNA Books, 2001.
- Pipkin, Donald L. Halting the Hacker: A Practical Guide to Computer Security (with CD-ROM). Indianapolis: Prentice Hall PTR, 2002.
- Lilley, Peter. Hacked, Attacked, & Abused: Digital Crime Exposed. London: Kogan Page, 2003.
