This was an interesting to look at and read. I personally heard of the guy at number 1 but might check out his work. http://rappers.mdaniels.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/
Heard this song on the radio the other day. How it made it on the radio I will never know? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/z8ZzAad_5b0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Awesome. I like how they included points of reference on the continuum, like how Shakespeare ranks right there between Das EFX & Outkast. Really puts in perspective just how sophisticated a command of language some of these guys have. Obviously not from just scanning rhyming dictionaries & thesauri, plucking random words that fit. It's deeper than that, personal meaning, experiences, feelings etc.
The true legends making the top of the list, nice. Also, surprised Tyga has more unique words than Em, Scarface, Royce, Pac, Lupe,... Guess this chart doesn't measure the quality of the words, just how rarely they are used.
"I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars They criticized me for it, yet they all yell "holla" If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be Lyrically Talib Kweli Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense But I did 5 mil - I ain't been rhyming like Common since" - Jay-Z The literal explaination why hip hop is crap now Rocket River
Gil Scott-Heron is one of my favorite rappers. I wish they could've compared his work and placed him somewhere on this chart. It doesn't surprise me that some of my other favorites place highly and the ones I dislike are at the bottom. Somewhere in the early 90s, mainstream rap became crap. You talk to the average African American about her favorite music or what she hears her social circle listen to, and it's the same trite artists spewing materialistic, misogynistic, and nihilist lyrics.
This Scarface doesn't use many words, but his rhymes are powerful. It's pimpish, say more in 5 minutes than somebody else does in 2 weeks.
Aesop Rock is really a solid rapper. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/A_sJ0U1rLDU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>