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Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary

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Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary

#251

Post by Avshalom »

unfunco wrote: post #14

This is fascinating. I'm only a recent listener of hip-hop (primarily because of Earl Sweatshirt and Odd Future) and I'm in awe of the vernacular. And similarly, as a boredom exercise a few weeks ago I did some lexical analysis of the song Timber (the monstrosity was being constantly played on the radio at the time) and here's what I came out with: "83.1% of the words in the lyrics are five letters or less, 58.9% are…

Is that with or without 'the' 'be' 'to' not that its any sort of literary accomplishment regardless but English is a terrible language for lexical density.

Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary

#252

Post by throwaway13qf85 »

hatu wrote: post #177
loso wrote: post #158

I 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…

It's kind of like putting book authors in this kind of a list. Using more words and more complex ones doesn't really say anything about the quality of the writing. Pretty interesting data-set for fun though.

William Faulkner once criticised Ernest Hemingway by saying that he "had never been known to use a word that might send the reader to the dictionary."

Hemingway responded by saying, "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use."

Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary

#254

Post by xentronium »

DigitalSea wrote: post #193

Makes me very happy to see Aesop Rock in the number #1 spot. He isn't as underground as many people assume, still relatively unknown in the mainstream, but well known enough to sell records and sell-out shows. I wasn't a big fan of his 2012 release Skelethon, but the way he structures his lyrics and the meaning behind them means he never writes a bad lyric. Interestingly Eminem whom I would have thought would rank pr…

I always thought eminem was famous for his clever wordplay, not his vocabulary diversity. FWIW, as a non-native speaker I can gather most of his verses. Aesop Rock, on the other hand, is totally indecipherable for me without printed lyrics.

Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary

#255

Post by cruise02 »

seizethecheese wrote: post #124

Many 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.

Sure, within one song. But if an artist has a narrow vocabulary throughout their career, it's a sign that they're just writing the same song over and over.

Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary

#258

Post by NegativeK »

thrownaway2424 wrote: post #191
nardi wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's obviously both "profit" and "prophet." Neither one is wrong.

I can see it either way, but this isn't quantum mechanics. It cannot in fact be both words at once.

While not rap, St. Vincent[1] may want to have some words with you.

Ambiguity can definitely be used in art.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whxF0KhBR84

Re: Rappers, Sorted by Size of Vocabulary

#259

Post by chrissyb »

pla3rhat3r wrote: post #200
randomdrake wrote: post #61

For 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…

Easily one of my favorite artists. I'm sad they didn't include more Rhymesayers Artists. I think a lot of them would be to the right of this scale. Guys like P.O.S. and Brother Ali are also very versatile.

+1 for Brother Ali, love his back story too.
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