Though it began as a mere cult following in the 1970s, the rise of rap and hip hop has over the past 40 years has seen it explode into one of the the world’s largest and most lucrative markets.
But along with that boom, there’s been an parallel increase in swearing, profanity, and misogynistic and homophobic slurs in the genre. Or has there?
It’s no secret that rappers love to let the more vulgar side of linguistics flow from their mouths, this freeform of expression is the height of rap and hip hop’s appeal. However, in some very interesting research conducted by music blog Best Tickets, the website focused on just how much our favourite rappers have been swearing from 1985 – 2013.
In extracting the dirty worded data, five albums were selected from each examined year that were deemed ‘popular’ by the standard of: total sales, artist name recognition, album hit density, influential and overall importance.
The overall results are fascinating, including showing over 31,500 cuss words had been spat in a mere 145 records, that one artist managed to use the word “bitch” 128 times in five tracks, while 2001 was the year of utmost vulgar. (Any records you can think of that helped the year hit the top?)
If you’re not too versed in the world of rap and hip-hop, be warned, you’re about to see the use of some pretty nasty words.
Total Amount of Cuss Words
The first graph represents an aggregated total of offensive language and their use in popular rap music from 1985 – 2013.
In further breaking down these statistics, the results show that on average there are 13.76 uses of profanity per track. Obviously, there are exceptions of more heavily laden cussing versus the less. The most commonly conveyed-cuss words appear to be: N-word, F*ck and Sh*t.
The Top 10 Profane Records
Before dissecting the aggregated results into the most profane rap records, can you guess which artist and which record take out the coveted-cusser #1?
Hogging two thirds of the podium is the dearly missed Tupac Shakur which his records All Eyez On Me and the posthumous Until The End Of Time. Featuring three times, twice with N.W.A and once for 2001’s groundbreaking The Chronic is Dr. Dre. Are these results suggesting Californians as the cuss-kings?
The Top 10 Profane Records: Per Track
This chart breaks down the vulgar lyrics in a different manner; measuring albums with the highest amount of swear words per song.
Too $hort takes out the #1 position in this case with his record Raw, Uncut & X-Rated, aptly titled and full of warning, right? Bare in mind, this record does only contain five tracks, to which a whopping 265 cuss words have managed to be spat when spun in its entirety. Dr. Dre and Tupac appear multiple times once again in these results.
The Top 15 Profane Tracks
This table sets the swearing out nice and simple, displaying: the record, artist, and song with its total uses of each examined cuss-word.
Ludacris soars to the top of this chart of 15, featuring twice with a total of 195 shrewd vocals, with an overwhelming appreciation for the use of ‘ho’.
The Trending Use Of Profanity: 1985 – 2013
Finally, let’s take a glance at the profanity trend in the examined time period of 1985 – 2013.
No surprises that the beginning of the data sample displays a lower average of cussing per track. The swearing climbs substantially in the early 1990’s as the likes of N.W.A, Ice Cube and A Tribe Called Quest drop records
The profanity pinnacle soars to its peak in 2001 with a special thanks to the aforementioned records of Tupac’s Until The End Of Time and Ludacris’ Word Of Mouf.
A steady decline of cuss words per track precedes the early 2000’s peak curtsey of records Game Theory by The Roots and Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor before taking once again a steady rise into 2013 which is undoubtedly fuelled by the likes of OFWGKTA.
Interestingly, landmark records that are a staple in any rap or hip-hop artists diet such as Nas’ Illmatic, Jay-Z’s The Blue Print, De La Soul’s 3 Feet And Rising or A Tribe Called Quest’s A Low End Theory are no where to be seen in any of these findings.
Last but not least, here’s a handy animated .gif tracking the growing total use of cuss words over the years.
For the full comprehensive detailing of cussing for the era spanning from 1985 – 2013, jump over to Best Tickets and fully gorge on even further shocking statistics.
