Thank you based god!!
Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
181–190 of 276 posts
Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#182I enjoyed reading this chart but I hope it doesn't reinforce the bias that some fans have that word complexity is the only way to tell if a rapper is good or not. There are several ways to judge the strength and weaknesses of a rapper. Complexity is one of them, flow is another. Story telling ability is also another very strong in indicator. The best rappers are able to bring a mix while some are just so strong in on…
To fully understand rap, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme, and figures of speech. Then ask two questions: One, how artfully has the objective of the song been rendered, and two, how important is that objective. Question one rates the song's perfection, question two rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining a song's greatest becomes a relatively simple matter. If the s…
god. fucking. damn.
rips page out of book
Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#183Gotta wonder about the garbage-in factor of Rap Genius. From one randomly selected Aesop Rock cut: "Please I want to donate my brain to the monstrous Panasonic profit" I guess it could be. I always heard it as "monstrous Panasonic prophet." It would be in keeping with the previous lyric "Television, all hail grand pixelated god of fantasy."
Profit makes more sense to me, because it ties into the directly proceeding line "Please take me, please calm me, please make me a zombie". Aes is clearly talking about advertising and (broadly) media here, and while the double meaning of "prophet" does contribute to the line, the surface meaning is that he's donating his brain (attention) to the Panasonic profit (from advertising). However, that said, that page ( ht…
It's obviously both "profit" and "prophet." Neither one is wrong.
Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#184Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know man, I listened to a couple of the tracks and he definitely has lyrical skills, and I like some of the tracks, but the quotes you selected aren't very good at all, at best obvious topics with all the insight of a million college freshmen. Having said that I like "None Shall Pass" that has a really great sound. To be entirely honest, I love rap, but not for any insight rappers have in world affairs, but f…
> at best obvious topics with all the insight of a million college freshman Art is weird like that. We have to remember that it isn't all about needing to learn something new from the experience. Sometimes it's just about getting something out of it. Looking over the lists of the best songs of all time[1], we can see that there aren't a lot of incredibly insightful songs. Quite frankly, most speak of your "obvious to…
Often songs - like poetry - often aren't insightful exactly, but provide a good way of communicating the emotions connected with an experience or concept.
Take Smells like Teen Spirit" (which appears on 6 of the lists linked to above): The lyrics are not particularly insightful (almost deliberately), but it captures the goalessness of disaffected youth like no other song.
Nothing Compares 2U* really is unrequited love.
Then there's U2's One (3 lists) which has lyrics that mean different things to different people, and music that can support multiple interpretations[1].
(Of course, some songs on those lists are just entertaining because they are perfect pop ("Billy Jean", "Like a Virgin") or funny ("Baby got Back")
Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#186I would like to see Dälek included in the study. I'd be surprised if they didn't show up on the far right on the scale.
Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#187For those who aren't familiar with Aesop Rock, I'd invite you to give him a listen sometime. His earlier albums, in particular, have been very influential to me in many ways. Both in my artistic and professional careers. From comments on the conditions of the working man and the condition of feeling trapped in a "j-o-b"[1]: "Now we the American working population Hate the fact that eight hours a day Is wasted on chas…
I don't know man, I listened to a couple of the tracks and he definitely has lyrical skills, and I like some of the tracks, but the quotes you selected aren't very good at all, at best obvious topics with all the insight of a million college freshmen. Having said that I like "None Shall Pass" that has a really great sound. To be entirely honest, I love rap, but not for any insight rappers have in world affairs, but f…
listen to the album 'Labor Days'
If you like this abstract hip hop then I highly suggest you delve into the artist MF DOOM.
Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#188I'd really like to see this broken down by established vocabulary and made up vocabulary. I think that would really start to show who were the best lyricists on both ends. Rappers with a lot of made up words might be on the far left, and rappers with a lot of unique words that aren't made up would be on the far right. Both sides of the scale would show rapping talent on different dimensions. Influential rappers like…
Would also be nice to see size of the corpus controlled for. What's the rate at which they use new words?
This chart already does that. The corpus for each artist is their first 35,000 words of lyrics.
Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#189Many here seem to be interpreting vocabulary size as a signal for quality. When it comes to rap I completely disagree. Firstly, the repetition is rap's main ingredient. I read an article a while ago where researchers found that listening to a spoken phrase that is looped activates the same part of the brain as music, which helps explain this phenomenon. Personally, if I want food for thought I read. Rap is not an int…
> Firstly, the repetition is rap's main ingredient. Is it though? I don't dispute that sheer vocabulary size isn't a sign of quality, but that seems like a very ignorant generalization of rap.
Repetition is a key ingredient in all genres of music. You would be hard pressed to find many significant pieces of music that don't use repetition.
Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary
#190For those who aren't familiar with Aesop Rock, I'd invite you to give him a listen sometime. His earlier albums, in particular, have been very influential to me in many ways. Both in my artistic and professional careers. From comments on the conditions of the working man and the condition of feeling trapped in a "j-o-b"[1]: "Now we the American working population Hate the fact that eight hours a day Is wasted on chas…
Aesop is an excellent lyricist. In fact all the MCs on the Rhymesayers label are very talented: Brother Ali, Slug (of Atmosphere) etc. One MC whose vocabulary always leaves me taken aback is RA Scion, who has been part of the group Common Market. Their song, "My Pathology" [0] is a shining example: "Below the terra ferma's the murmur of many men Resonatin' the predication of RA's eponym It requires a higher degree of…
I'd like to also recommend Stones Throw Records for those just getting into this realm of music.
MF DOOM is my favorite lyricist