[1] The film, directed and produced by Negin Farsad, was premiered at the 2008 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

The film investigates the nerdcore genre of hip-hop music, following the godfather of the genre, MC Frontalot, nerdcore's 'poet laureate', on his first national tour, in the company of band-mates Gaby Alter ("G Minor 7"), the keyboard player; Strugis the drummer and 'flirt of the band'; and Brandon Patton ("Blak Lotus"), the bass guitarist.

[3] Beginning in South Carolina and culminating at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, masses of fans across the country come out to hear Frontalot's music as he strives to achieve mainstream success.

Mel Valentin of Slash Film described it as "an engrossing documentary directed by Negin Farsad, [that] will answer any and all questions you may have about nerdcore, a relatively new hip-hop genre made by and for nerds.

"[1] Paul Bower of "Tiny Mixed Tapes" concluded "With the added benefit of interviews with artists like Prince Paul, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Jello Biafra, Nerdcore Rising serves as an entertaining yet fluffy documentary about one of the most laughably interesting forms of musical expression in the West.