Mega Ran (Music)

"Yo. Lemme tell you 'bout this dream I had//woke up in some weird science lab//stand next to a dude in a white coat//got X. Light on his pocket protector, had this big blue helmet on, and a big cannon in place of my right arm...."



Mega Ran is both the Mega Man-themed alter ego of rapper Random, and a Concept Album about said alter ego. What follows is a semi-humorous, hip-hop retelling of the Mega Man series. The plot (such as it is) begins when Random finds himself in Mega Man's body in Dr. Light's laboratory, and goes from there. It is made clear from the first line of the first song that everything that happens is a dream. The album also got a Contested Sequel by way of Mega Ran 9.

Also, Random openly endorses the practice of downloading bootlegs if you can't afford the album. We can't link here for legal reasons, but if you want to pirate it, you can do so with a clear conscience. He even mentions the practice in "Robot City".

Tropes that apply to Mega Ran

 * Aesop Amnesia - After waking up from his dream, Random says he learned a valuable lesson... but he doesn't remember what it was.
 * All Just a Dream - the first track on the album, "Intro" starts out by telling us that the whole thing is, in fact, a dream.
 * And Now for Something Completely Different - "Ringman" is rather serious in tone, albeit with a positive message (Be Yourself, essentially).
 * The album itself is one too, compared to Random's earlier work, which was mostly socially conscious, old-school flavored hip-hop and not Nerdcore in the slightest.
 * Be Yourself - See And Now for Something Completely Different above.
 * Boss Fight - The song of the same name, as well as "Final Battle" and "vs. Metalman"
 * Buffy-Speak - During the interlude when Ran wakes up, he can't remember the name of the Mega Man series or its title character, and refers to him as "the blue dude".
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin - "Intro", "Boss Fight" and "Bonus Track" which is on the Deluxe Edition. Also "vs. Metalman" which is about...well guess.
 * Digital Piracy Is Evil - Utterly averted, Ran endorses it on his final verse in the short version of "Robot City".
 * Dream Team - The extended version of "Robot City" entitled "Bonus Track" on the deluxe version is more or less a whose-who of Nerd Core, as well as featuring another underground rapper, Zealous 1
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia - in "Intro" Dr. Light suspects this is why Mega Ran doesn't remember him.
 * Nerd Core - Ran doesn't actively identify as such (and he has a point, some of his stuff really is not nerdcore) but the album at least, seems to count.
 * The Other Darrin - Dr. Wily is voiced by two different people on the album. The one on "Boss Fight" sounds pretty typically villain-ish, and even spits a few bars. But Wily on "Final Battle" is voiced by another rapper, Ytcracker, and has full verses, the difference is extremely jarring.
 * Race Lift - Mega Ran is black, as opposed to the original Mega Man who appears to be white. This makes sense, since Random is black too, and it's supposed to be a dream he's having.
 * Sampling - Most of the music on the album is formed by laying heavy beats over the actual stage themes from the Mega Man games.
 * In the brief between-song interludes, the cartoon is sometimes sampled as well.