Eminem, Drake, Aesop Rock Among Artists In “Largest Vocabulary In Hip Hop” Chart

    Matt Daniels, a New York City resident who describes himself as a data scientist and digital analyst, has created a series of charts that examine the number of unique words used for various rappers. Daniels has titled his project “The Largest Vocabulary In Hip Hop” and created his various charts using lyrics provided by the lyric-based website, Rap Genius.

    He found New York emcee Aesop Rock to be the lyricist with the highest “# of unique words used within artist’s first 35,000 lyrics.” Aesop Rock was followed by GZA with 6,426 unique words used and Kool Keith with 6,238 unique words used.

    Among the other artists featured in Daniels’ “The Largest Vocabulary In Hip Hop” study, which was inspired by the highly-celebrated vocabulary of William Shakespeare, are Eminem, Tupac Shakur, Drake, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

    Daniels also took a closer look at the rappers, including Tupac and Lil Wayne, who were in the bottom 20 percent of his chart.

    “While Lil Wayne has never been celebrated for the complexity of his word choices, I expected 2pac, Snoop, and Kanye to be well above average,” he said. “It’s also worth noting that Drake, one of the most popular artists of late, is #83 on this list.”

    Due to a “lack of recent data,” a number of newer artists, including Kendrick Lamar, were not included in Daniels’ chart, which uses data current to 2012.

    Daniels’ “The Largest Vocabulary In Hip Hop” chart as well as a handful of other infographics from the data scientist’s project can be found below.

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    149 thoughts on “Eminem, Drake, Aesop Rock Among Artists In “Largest Vocabulary In Hip Hop” Chart

    1. Lil B
      Gucci Mane
      Nicki Minaj
      Insane Clown Posse
      Salt n Pepa
      Puff Daddy
      50 Cent
      Nelly
      The Game
      Lil Kim
      Tyga
      Wiz Khalifa
      Snoop Dogg
      Petey Pablo
      Master P

    2. My client will be taking legal action for leaving him off of this list. Everyone knows Rick Ross is a brilliant lyricist with a Shakespeare like gift for words. He would easily out rap anyone in Wu-tang.

      1. It’s amazing to be alive when niggas want you to die
        Mad at every check you deposit, I see it all in their eyes
        I’mma stunt harder, I’mma shop more
        Black bell boy, Persian rugs at the door
        Giving niggas jobs, living like the mob
        A scotch in the soda anastasia.com
        People talking ’bout me, say I got a body
        Or are they mad at me that the house got a lobby?
        Big four-fifths spliffs at the boat split
        Tip toein’ through the city, Alvin Ailey with a brick
        Settin’ new milestones, gettin my style on
        Down in Coconut Grove where niggas don’t smile long
        City full of barbarians, wet you like an aquarius
        Only beautiful bitches, they tell me the more the merrier
        Fascinatin’ faces, now it’s top jewelers
        Pina colada daiquiris Fontainebleau on a Tuesday
        Got the Desert Eagle up in Fred Segal
        Only fat nigga in vintage Moschino
        Attempted murder, I refuse to exile
        So it’s club LIV til I’m exed out
        A gold casket my final request
        Bangin’ at em like my child they want molest
        Therefore I pray I live a hundred years
        Be a crutch for my kids all through their wonder years
        Oil money fuck up a hundred mill
        That’s just a yacht and a crib, nigga dying to live
        Champagne, spillin’ the opulence
        Side bitches remain anonymous
        Got a condo on Collins, another on Sunny Isle
        Makin sure that you get around cause these niggas will gun you down
        Got my daughter a Fendi purse then I took her to Disney World
        All I give her is game, digesting my every word
        Tired and chartered a plane, oil money the game
        Classics stay on my feet, Double M on my chain {Maybach Music}
        All I think is about oil money
        These niggas barely gettin’ tour money

      1. Aesop Rock has been doing hip=hop music and has been prominent much longer than A$AP Rocky. FOH.

      2. You must be stupid! Aesop Rock has been around much longer and is 100 times more intelligent than you’re pretty boy rapper. Big words separate me and you, that’s how we establish each other in society you bottom feeder. Pick up a book that way you can start to translate Aesop’s raps! ASAP clone hahaha. You’re an ASAP clown.

    3. are we just going to forget about Del? Because he has more unique’s than anyone listed here. Furthermore, I want to know who made this list and how accurate it is. Just saying.

    4. largest vocabulary don’t mean shit, aesop rock uses big words for no reason, doesn’t make him a better rapper at all.

      i’m sure plenty of rappers have large vocabularies but don’t use big words because they’re trying to rock parties, not spelling bees.

    5. AESOP ROCK #1. If you’re not familiar then you don’t enjoy hip hop! Salute to the true underground! Knock em out the box AES!

      1. Definitely mislead by it too. Made it song like he was up there with Aesop Rock lol. Thought “no fucking way”

      2. Did it say “DRAKE THE BEST OR TOP OF LIST?” Naaaah.

        Was he among artists on the list? YEEEEEEAAAAAH

        Makes sense then

      1. he missed out on a few artist such as hopsin, im not sure if youd agree but oh well. there are also artists like joe budden and crooked i from slaughterhouse that dont seem to be there

    6. I hope im not the only one who thinks this is shoddy research.

      1. what classifies as a unique word, is slang included?

      2. what is the ratio between songs created and words used. Artist with a lager body of work have more opportunities to have so called unique words pop up.

      3. Lyric websites, like Rap Genius are know to have incorrect words and lyrics, so the source of the data is not accurate.

      I know this is all in fun. I just wanted to say this before all the pointless debates on who should be and shouldn’t be on the list begin. Take the chart for what it is but do take it to seriously.

      1. Why not read the whole website instead of reading hiphopdx’s shitty recount of it. The owner of the website answers most of your questions.

      2. How is it our fault you bitch ass niggas have the IQ of a raisin and probably didn’t make it past the third grade?

    7. Puffy should be disqualified considering his output is the combined vocab of how many m.c.’s on pay roll?

    8. “Eminem, Drake, Aesop Rock Among Artists In “Largest Vocabulary In Hip Hop” Chart”

      BY THE WAY YALL PHRASE THE TITLE, YOU MAKE IT SOUND LIKE DRAKE IS UP THERE WITH EM AND AESOP ROCK IN VOCAB. HE’S ONE OF THE LOWEST ON IT

    9. title is misleading.

      This fucking website is unbelievable smh

      and of course Darke is low. hes average at best.

    10. 1) The title says Drake scored high, but it is stated that he (Obviously) scored low because he’s horseshit.

      2) This obviously didn’t include every rapper because Killah Priest, DOOM, or Canibus would have been top 5.

      3) You ugly.

      1. DOOM and Killah Priest on the High part of the list too. Did you actually check the Infographic?

      2. Damn. I stand Corrected. I didn’t see the full list and could barely see the little heads. Also, putting Drake in the headline after finishing 83rd out of 85 IS misleading. Seems like they just wanted to put an R & B chick on the list

    11. Ja Rule Next Album – titled “Genius Loves Company ‘GLC ” Track list
      1.King Of The Nile – Ft Chrisette Michele prod by. Cool & Dre )
      2. I’m Back (Produced By. Kanye West)
      3. My Brother’s Keeper – Ja Rule Ft Rick Ross (produced by. 7)
      4. Freedom – Ja Rule ft. The Dream (produced by. Chink Santana)
      5. What We Gon’ Do (produced by. Street Runners)
      6. Prime Time- Ja Rule Ft Jay Z & DMX (Produced by. Irv Gotti )
      7. All Of This – Ja Rule Ft Drake (Produced by. Noah “40”)
      8. Blood Diamonds – Ft Mic Geronimo (Produced By. Just Blaze)
      9. Kill em all (Produced By Swizz Beatz)
      10. My Baby Ft Ashanti ( Produced By. 7)
      11. Dangerous Minds Ft Kendrick Lamar ( Produced by. Hit Boy )
      12. The World Ft. Scarface & Nas & Jadakiss(Produced by. Irv )
      13. No Limit ( Produced by Justice L.E.A.G.U.E )
      14. Big Remo Skit 2014
      15. On The Run Ft Fat Joe & N.O.R.E ( produced by. 7)
      16. F**k Fame (produced by. No I.D)
      17. Our Life Feat. Mary J Blige( produced by. 7)
      18. Ride With Me (produced by. Irv)
      19. My Dreams ft Lloyd ,Black Child ,Cadillac Tah, Vita , Charlie Baltimore & Ashanti ( produced by.Hit Boy)

      Get Ready “GLC” 2014 #TheRuleIsBack

    12. Fuck you guys are a bunch of cock suckers.. Eminem and Drake shouldn’t even be mentioned in title, why not put the one who was titled first as the first artist in the headline.
      Interesting that there is no Ill Bill, Ruggedman, Tech n9ne on the list.

      1. what a loser he didnt even look at the list. they got 85 artists on there including tech n9ne

      2. Do you motherfuckers know how to read? The article clearly states the artists with the largest vocabulary.

    13. Aesop rock is a hipster toy, and isn’t even that lyrical, he just talks random shit and people assume it’s some deep shit because they cant understand it. Well here is some news… NO ONE UNDERSTANDS IT. hip hop is meant to be the voice of the street not some random, arty, pretentious jibberish for hipster wannabe nerds to pretend to understand.

      1. Having a complex vocabulary doesn’t make you a hipster and there is a place in hip-hop for people who are intelligent. Aesop isn’t just gibberish, MF Doom and Kool Keith have way more nonsensical lyrics.

      2. So what, MCs should’ve stayed rhyming like Easy Mo Bee so they don’t go over anyone’s head? You don’t think it’s dope when you can listen to a Pharoahe Monch or a GFK record for the 15th time and find something you haven’t heard before? Aesop’s cool, I prefer his early Def Jux stuff, half the time I don’t know what he’s on about but it usually sounds dope, and just because he’s putting out music doesn’t mean you can’t go rock a Diplomats or MMG record if you don’t feel him.

      3. I love pharoahe, he’s one of my favourite mc’s. I never said i had anything against complex rhymes, as long as they make sense and actually have meaning behind them at the end of the day. Even if it takes hours of studying and replaying. HOWEVER even when you do this with many of aesop’s rhymes THEY STILL ARE COMPLETE BULLSHIT. now im not gonna front and pretend i dont fucks with some of aesop’s stuff but overall he just pisses me off as it seems he goes out of his way to make his lyrics gibberish, and i don’t view him as a true MC.

      4. Just because you don’t understand something, does not mean it’s gibberish. I understand everything Aes is saying. Next thing you’ll be saying that Shakespeare is gibberish and maths is gibberish.

    14. Where are all the Lupe dick riders at? Mobb Deep, Tyga, E-40 and Ludacris have a more complex vocabulary.

      Fuck Lupe’s pretentious bullshit. I fuck with his first two albums, but Lasers is the most garbage hip-hop album ever made.

      1. I don’t know where the dick riders are at but I have an idea where the butthurt Lupe haters who are still catching feelings over a label-disputed album from four years ago are at.

    15. This is bullshit made by white people, so I don’t believe it. Aesop Rock and Eminem have extremely simpistic, basic, vocabularies. They basically just talk in rhyme form. How is Redman so high? How is E-40 so high? I think this is not taking how many songs the artists have into consideration. Artists with more songs, will probably have more words used even if their rhymes are generally simplistic on average. I’m not impressed

      1. read the article before you talk shit on it fuck boi. they counted the first 35000 lyrics for all 85 artists studied.

      2. Facts are facts. If you read the article the author stated the data isn’t perfect but it’s still telling. Of course someone who has more songs will have more words, that’s why he used the first 35,000 words from each artist. Wah wah, white people, grow up.

      3. All of you motherfuckers can go straight to hell, okay? I am not having a good day. My fucking cat died, the mailman fucking spit on me when I complained that he was taking too long to deliver my package, my car got towed, my fucking girlfriend left me because I’m a one pump chump, and now my own mother is throwing me out of the house and I’m forced to sleep in my car. I’m not impressed.

      4. Eminem simplistic? you’ve obviously haven’t listened to his entire catalog and I bet you’re judging by his radio singles.

    16. Aesop Rock is weak and corny. It doesn’t matter what statistic his stans make for him. I will rate DMX, the lowest on that list over Aesop anyday. Oh and you dont need 3 white dudes in your headline for attention BTW

      1. DMX is empitome of weak and corny…he raps about raping underage women and barks like a dog repeatedly.

    17. Drake might have used few words early on in his career but he’s still crazy with the wordplay.

      Also artists like Drake and 50 almost always have songs with hooks and they often sing their own hooks, so there is bound to be more repetition in terms of what they say. That’s an OBVIOUS confound.

    18. slip like freudian and itll be the first n last ticket to play yourself like accordion SOMETHING TO LOOK UP 4 ILLITERATE CUNTS THAT DON’T RESPECT DOOM AS A WORDSMITH…SMH

    19. How the fuck you put Eminem and Drake in the same sentence as Aesop. If you can’t tell… They are waaaaaay to the left of Aesop!

      1. Because they’re white and a jew, and most of the white boys on this site will click on it because of those names.

      2. im a 32 year old virgin white male in 4 year college and i only clicked this because it mentioned eminem

      1. Knowledge is knowledge kid! Did you know the Fourier transform is used to convert any wave into a sum of sin waves?

    20. TUPAC BEFORE AVERAGE….THANK YOU!!! Dude is so average is terms of skills, lyrics, vocab, rhyme patterns etc etc and I’m nowhere near the only non delusional who agrees with this

      1. Yeah, maybe so but he made great tracks, delivered them with passion & was quite possibly the most influential artist that this genre has ever seen.

    21. Aesop Rocky.. really, u must be kiddin? lol @ this lil rip off wigger. A$AP A$AP! FUCK THE FAKES! A$AP4EVER!

      1. FAGGOT AES ROCK BEEN MURKIN THE UNDERGROUND REALM SINCE THE 90’S. EDUCATE URSELF WIT REAL HIPHOP LEGENDS

      2. Your joking right? If not, you’re pathetic. Why don’t you fucking google it whatever, racist idiot.

    22. Where the hell is Canibus?? 15 albums from this man he’s a walking encyclopedia britannica

    23. Canibus Rip the Jacker album alone has more multi syllable words then most people use in a lifetime.

    24. im a 32 year old virgin white male in 4 year college and i only clicked this because it mentioned eminem.

      1. truth is your probably a 32 year old black male with a shitty job trying to make fun of white people you happen to like Eminem’s music.

        You lost

    25. Where in the hell is Pharoahe Monch? and Cee-Lo Green Should Be at the Very Top His Track Big Ol Words(Damn)alone would put Half these rappers To shame.Oh and Nas should be close to the front also,but Canibus That Rip The Jacker album with Stoup On the Beats Is Crazy especially The Track Levitabus, Respect to Jean Grae As Well as Lupe Fiasco.

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    27. DX loves to mislead with article titles, yes, Drake is in the chart, he is also 3rd to last on the entire list.

    28. This is an interesting yet facious article to me which aesop rock does have very high verbiage,it is true that he does sacrife alot of meaning using such detailed and convuluted language.I for one minute do not believe anyone can understand him in one go.In addition to the subjective terms such as unique words well what are these unque words ten cents words,slang,arcane words and lexicon,particular use of diction,use of phraseology etc see the problem.

      In addition to this is the issue of omission of many other rappers with high verbiage such as busdriver,vakill,chino xl,k-rino,del the funky homospaien,T-rock,casual,gift of gab,black thought,talib kweli,common,mos def,wise intelligent,dead prez,immortal technique,aotp,for goodness sake where is el-p,saul williams,damn illogic who is better with words than (aesop really check him),ra the rugged man,qwel,juice and others eminem is definately not higher is unque words than the aforemention artists.

      1. Whoa! I love your list I almost forgot about those killers, but Black Thought was there, under the band name The Roots.

      2. Aesop had the support of his fans. Daniels (the guy who did the research) cites their response to his initial study as the reason he included Aes in the final graph. And you must not have looked into the original study, cause the majority of the people you listed are a part of the ranking. Aes is just far above them, so much so that his datapoint would literally be off the chart (Daniels’ words, not mine).

    29. $97/hr pavivdv by Google, I am making a good salary from home $5500-$7000/week , which is amazing, under a year ago I was jobless in a horrible economy. I thank God every day I was blessed with these instructions and now it’s my duty to pay it forward and share it with Everyone, Here is I started,,,
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    30. Another perspective is the vocabulary of an artist the primary measure of their creativity or their musics quality tupac for example musically is ahead of most of these artist due to his ability to convey hope,fear,anger,love,hate,joy in one verse clearly concisely and effortlessly.

    31. DOOM
      EL-P
      AESOP ROCK
      LUPE FIASCO
      C RAYZ WALLZ
      KOOL KEITH
      BLU…..come on man I think DOOM top them all…BUT AESOP did up his bar game on SKELETHON…ohhhh DAS RACIST gets busy too…POS from de la…damn man..the list goes on

      1. i am a big fan of k-rino… but this is vocabulary… this isn’t about creativity/imagination/story telling/truth… k-rino is up the top with others for that though… k-rino has a good vocab but definitely sits behind canibus

    32. Where if MF DOOM? Seriously? I love me some Aesop for sure! But damn Doom is a better well rounded. But that’s just my personal flavor and Aesop truly deserves this!

    33. And yes I’m a year late! What?
      To be honest I can say that Aesop is the best of our time and maybe of ever.
      But… Doom Dooooooom Doom. Hmmmm?

    34. I’m sorry rhyming is cool but it’s about the spirit (impact) , knowledge (hidden meanings) and change the Mc brings

      You can rhyme the craziest words together might sound good for a time being but you want everlasting music that will be relevant til the end of time.

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