No doubt, many have wondered who the filthiest MC of all time is. Whether or not you agree, a new study taking an in-depth look at rap profanities have concluded that it's none other than gangsta rap icon and N.W.A. founder Dr. Dre.
The Rap Analytics website claim to have solved the dirty word debate with its "Profanity Explorer," which is said to offer up "a comprehensive visualization of profanity in Rap."
According to Rap Analytics, it has looked into "10,000 songs from over 150 artists between 1987-2013." It averages a rapper's total word count with how much profanity they've laced into their bars. It's explained that the site measures various assemblages of profanity, organized under the following categories: N-word, Shit, Fuck, Ass, Sexual, Homophobic, Misogynistic. There's also a miscellaneous category that includes words like "piss," a few racist slurs and loaded terms like "sucka."
It's added that the "N-word is the most popular profane word" in the study, and apparently accounted for close to one per cent of the total words used in 2012 alone.
It should be clarified that this is an ongoing study, with 25,000 songs eventually being added to the equation, but so far it looks like Dr. Dre stands head and shoulders above the rest of the competition.
According to the study, Dre has logged about 28,000 words throughout his lengthy career, with roughly 1500 of those being profane. The, ahem, chronic cussing leaves him with a 5.5 per cent average. The second worst offender is the still-young A$AP Rocky, who has averaged 4.9 per cent by dropping close to 250 dirty words into his catalogue thus far. Other big hitters include Meek Mill, the Notorious B.I.G. and Lil Wayne.
The middle of the pack features artists like Eminem, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Jay Z, 2Pac, T.I. and Kanye West. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the study has Hammer and Will Smith at the bottom of the list.
While Smith is ranked with a lowly 0.06 per cent profanity rating, it should be noted that the "Fresh Prince" dropped one of the most shockingly homophobic crowd-pumping ad-libs ever by demanding "all the homeboys that got AIDS be quiet" on "Live at Union Square (November 1986)," from his once-ubiquitous, Grammy-winning LP, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper.
This is significant, as the study notes shifts in tone over the years, including how the younger generation of rappers seems decidedly less homophobic than their predecessors. Eminem, meanwhile, is singled out for having "strong homophobic language," while also supporting gay marriage.
As for Nicki Minaj, it's noted that while she drops "bitch" into her bars quite frequently, the word "is used more casually and sometimes even positively to reference herself as a 'bad bitch.'" All told, the study is more complicated once you look at how profanities are being used.
There's potential for the artist rankings to shift considerably over time, with one particular omission being well-noted provocateur Tyler, the Creator. It also appears that the Wu-Tang Clan has been lumped into one slot, leaving out the equally massive solo output of their various members.
While tried-and-true swears include "fuck" and the misogynistic stand-by "bitch," a few of the more creative curse words searched for include "cumtart," "queefer" and "assclown." Should you feel so inclined, the whole offensive list can be found here.
The Rap Analytics website claim to have solved the dirty word debate with its "Profanity Explorer," which is said to offer up "a comprehensive visualization of profanity in Rap."
According to Rap Analytics, it has looked into "10,000 songs from over 150 artists between 1987-2013." It averages a rapper's total word count with how much profanity they've laced into their bars. It's explained that the site measures various assemblages of profanity, organized under the following categories: N-word, Shit, Fuck, Ass, Sexual, Homophobic, Misogynistic. There's also a miscellaneous category that includes words like "piss," a few racist slurs and loaded terms like "sucka."
It's added that the "N-word is the most popular profane word" in the study, and apparently accounted for close to one per cent of the total words used in 2012 alone.
It should be clarified that this is an ongoing study, with 25,000 songs eventually being added to the equation, but so far it looks like Dr. Dre stands head and shoulders above the rest of the competition.
According to the study, Dre has logged about 28,000 words throughout his lengthy career, with roughly 1500 of those being profane. The, ahem, chronic cussing leaves him with a 5.5 per cent average. The second worst offender is the still-young A$AP Rocky, who has averaged 4.9 per cent by dropping close to 250 dirty words into his catalogue thus far. Other big hitters include Meek Mill, the Notorious B.I.G. and Lil Wayne.
The middle of the pack features artists like Eminem, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Jay Z, 2Pac, T.I. and Kanye West. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the study has Hammer and Will Smith at the bottom of the list.
While Smith is ranked with a lowly 0.06 per cent profanity rating, it should be noted that the "Fresh Prince" dropped one of the most shockingly homophobic crowd-pumping ad-libs ever by demanding "all the homeboys that got AIDS be quiet" on "Live at Union Square (November 1986)," from his once-ubiquitous, Grammy-winning LP, He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper.
This is significant, as the study notes shifts in tone over the years, including how the younger generation of rappers seems decidedly less homophobic than their predecessors. Eminem, meanwhile, is singled out for having "strong homophobic language," while also supporting gay marriage.
As for Nicki Minaj, it's noted that while she drops "bitch" into her bars quite frequently, the word "is used more casually and sometimes even positively to reference herself as a 'bad bitch.'" All told, the study is more complicated once you look at how profanities are being used.
There's potential for the artist rankings to shift considerably over time, with one particular omission being well-noted provocateur Tyler, the Creator. It also appears that the Wu-Tang Clan has been lumped into one slot, leaving out the equally massive solo output of their various members.
While tried-and-true swears include "fuck" and the misogynistic stand-by "bitch," a few of the more creative curse words searched for include "cumtart," "queefer" and "assclown." Should you feel so inclined, the whole offensive list can be found here.