"Literary elites love to rep Shakespeare’s vocabulary: across his entire corpus, he uses 28,829 words, suggesting he knew over 100,000 words and arguably had the largest vocabulary, ever.
I decided to compare this data point against the most famous artists in hip hop. I used each artist’s first 35,000 lyrics. That way, prolific artists, such as Jay-Z, could be compared to newer artists, such as Drake."
"Yes I see all the nummmberrs... I still root for the dreeeamerrs... I thank God for the dreeeamerrs..." - Mos
2. "RE: The Largest Vocabulary in Hip Hop (Swipe)" In response to Reply # 0
This study is so awesome. I can definitely see how vocabulary correlates to my preferences for lyricists. I didn't see Keith Murray on there. I would think he'd be well above average.
3. "I tried to tell people man...Aesop is on another level lyrically " In response to Reply # 0
I understand his acquired taste as a downfall but he has gotten much tighter with his flow and he just packs so much into his verses and does so in a Unique and interesting way.
"It's impossible to come to a consensus on the best rapper of all-time, but this statistical ranking may sway who you think is on top. Based on a study conducted by Matt Daniels, a data scientist in New York, Pop Chart Lab has created a print that ranks rappers by the size of their vocabulary, called The Hip-Hop Flow Chart.
Daniels' study was conducted by analyzing 100 rappers' first 35,000 lyrics, which averages out to the artists' first three to five albums or EP's. AESOP Rock comes in first by a long haul at 7,392 words, over a thousand words more than in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Jay Z, Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, and Childish Gambino stand in the middle, around the 4,000 mark, while DMX trails with a vocabulary of only 3,214 words."
it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes
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