Over the years my friends and i have had heated debates over song lyrics, over artists, over albums, hell, even over skits from a mixtape. Constantly we tried to recall exactly what someone said, always skewing it to fit our needs, of course; who produced a beat; or who said something first—did dude really bite a line?
I, nor my friends, have an eidetic memory, so being able to accurately bring up lyrical “facts” has been difficult and time-consuming, even with the Internet and being able to search for lyrics or liner notes. Also, that ish isn’t always accurate (it is the Internet after all lol).
We now have an answer with the forthcoming project, The Hip-Hop Word Count: A Searchable Rap Almanac.
The idea to build the Hip-Hop Word Count came out of having hundreds of heated & passionate discussions about Rap music: Who was the best rapper of all time? Which rapper had the smartest songs? Which was the most popular champagne in Hip-Hop during 1999-2003? Which rapper uses the most clever metaphors? Which city’s rap songs use the most monosyllabic words? Does living in higher altitudes create a natural proclivity for Gangster Rap?
Tired of having these answers left up to conjecture or whoever had the loudest voice, I decided to build a tool that would help give answers by charting the culture described within Hip-Hop music.
With 21 days remaining (deadline Feb 13th), the project is ~70% funded by 200+ backers. I can’t wait to be able to dive into the almanac to see what zany facts or other information i can find about my favorite songs and rappers, as well as random stuff i never knew.
I’m hoping Hip Hop Word Count will be the Google or WikiPedia of Hip Hop: the go-to source for “truth” or at least to settle more friendly some debates.
I’m proud of hip hop. I’m proud to be a supporter of this project. Let’s go!
I’m out.
Peace.