The Hip-Hop Word Count is a searchable ethnographic database built from the lyrics of over 40,000 Hip-Hop songs from 1979 to present day.
The Hip-Hop Word Count describes the technical details of most of your favorite hip-hop songs. This data can then be used to not only figure out interesting stats about the songs themselves, but also describe the culture behind the music.
How can analyzing lyrics teach us about our culture?
The Hip-Hop Word Count locks in a time and geographic location for every metaphor, simile, cultural reference, phrase, rhyme style, meme and socio-political idea used in the corpus of Hip-Hop.
The Hip-Hop Word Count then converts this data into explorable visualisations which help us to comprehend this vast set of cultural data.
This data is being used to chart the migration of ideas and builds a geography of language.
The readability scores are on a scale from 0 (illiterate) to 20 (post-graduate degree). Learn more about the Hip-Hip Word Count.
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We’ve built a browser based infographic that visualizes all the mentions of Champagne by U.S. rappers from 1980-2010. The infographic has 3 views: Map View, Graph View and Song View. The slider allows users to choose the range of time they want to look at. The graphic is rich with storytelling: on one hand the image of Rappers & Champagne have a legendary place in pop culture. On the other hand when you consider Champagne as an aspirational product, this infographic tells a nuanced story of Rapper’s relationship to The American Dream. Browse the datavis here.
The Hip-Hop Word Count is a searchable ethnographic database built from the lyrics of over 40,000 Hip-Hop songs from 1979 to present day.
The Hip-Hop Word Count describes the technical details of most of your favorite hip-hop songs. This data can then be used to not only figure out interesting stats about the songs themselves, but also describe the culture behind the music.
How can analyzing lyrics teach us about our culture?
The Hip-Hop Word Count locks in a time and geographic location for every metaphor, simile, cultural reference, phrase, rhyme style, meme and socio-political idea used in the corpus of Hip-Hop.
The Hip-Hop Word Count then converts this data into explorable visualisations which help us to comprehend this vast set of cultural data.
This data can be used to chart the migration of ideas and builds a geography of language.
The readability scores are on a scale from 0 (illiterate) to 20 (post-graduate degree). Visit the Hip-Hip Word Count.
This SimpleViewer gallery requires Macromedia Flash. Please open this post in your browser or get Macromedia Flash here.
This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery
As part of The Hip-Hop Word Count project, Tahir Hemphill hosts a series of Rap Research Groups which make for lively and casually moderated discussions between Rap enthusiasts, historians, creative technologists, cultural critics, linguists, teachers, MC’s and academics.
Rap Research Group #4 will met on Wednesday, January 19th at Eyebeam Technology Center 540 West 21st St.
7:00PM Discussion: The (Im)Possibility of Quantifying Art & Metaphor in Rap w/ Tahir Hemphill.
As part of The Hip-Hop Word Count project, Tahir Hemphill hosts a series of Rap Research Groups which make for lively and casually moderated discussions between Rap enthusiasts, historians, creative technologists, cultural critics, linguists, teachers, MC’s and academics.
Rap Research Group #3 will meet this Wednesday, January 5th at Eyebeam Technology Center 540 West 21st St.
6:00PM for the screening of: Slingshot Hip-Hop
7:30PM for the discussion: Migratory Aesthetics - A Working Model for International Hip-Hop w/ Zuhirah Khaldun.
As part of The Hip-Hop Word Count project, Tahir Hemphill hosts a series of Rap Research Groups which make for lively and casually moderated discussions between Rap enthusiasts, historians, creative technologists, cultural critics, linguists, teachers, MC’s and academics.
Rap Research Group #2 will meet this Wednesday, December 15 at Eyebeam Technology Center 540 West 21st St at 7:30.
The discussion on Religion is presented by Reverend Sekou - Is Hip-Hop Just A Euphemism For A New Religion? The pre-requisite reading material is below.
Spiritual not Religious: Hip Hop, Spirituality, and the Future of the Black Church
Written by Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou
Spiritual but not Religious
One hot June afternoon on the eve of Tupac Shakur’s birthday, we gathered in the fellowship hall of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. The hall was suited for about 200 people but well over 500 people crammed in the space. Cameras and reporters swarmed and hovered as Hip Hop and young movement celebrities give selective interviews and posed for photojournalists and daunting fans alike. Reporters seemed stunned at the fact the words of “Hip Hop” and “politics” were being used in the same sentence. The occasion was the National Hip Hop Political Convention (NHHPC).
In the midst of a pivotal Presidential election of 2004, over three days, 6,000 or more youth activists, organizers, Hip Hop authors and journalists, and a few clergy gathered to contemplate the role of Hip Hop in American politics. The opening event of the convention at Mt. Zion Baptist sought to bridge the infamous generation gap. Read the rest of this entry »
Steel Sharpens Steel
Sam reminded us of Puffy’s influence on removing criticism - a requisite tool for creativity - from the hands of the Rap community. In a post Hate Me Now world, criticism became hate. If you don’t like my song you are no longer a critic that I must answer to but you are a hater that will be dismissed. Is the tradition of a peer review process now dead?
Raafi talked about his appreciation of the new wildly iterative production process in Hip-Hop. The technical capability to make and distribute songs with no A&R gate keepers. Songs that get feedback only after their release.
Algorithm Rap
Hank pointed out of the power of internet metrics and how for the first time our clicks may effect the creativity within Rap. If we repeatedly click to see car crashes (Antoine Dodson, 50 Tyson & Eli Porter) car crashes are what will be programmed on cable, signed by record companies and scientifically proven by Billboard’s Social 50 as the next new thing in Hip-Hop.
An Observation Of A Cultural Trend
A great deal of young Black male power in the U.S. of A has been sourced from from the front: Jump Off Our Jocks! / I Know That They Are On The Tip. / Who? My Dick!
In the 2000’s that area of attention has shifted to the rear: Pants On The Floor / Tight Sag / Skinny Jeans. Read the rest of this entry »
