The language of hip-hop: A corpus analysis

Academic research on rap lyrics remains underdeveloped despite the cultural significance of hip hop. To fill this gap, this corpus linguistics study investigated lexical patterns in a corpus of American rap lyrics. An approximately one-million-token corpus was compiled from 1,600 songs released between 1979 and 2019, allowing for the analysis of vocabulary and language change over time. Attention was given to methodological issues that affect corpus analysis, including slang, alternative spellings, and items misclassified or omitted by corpus analysis software. The findings reveal chronological variation in slang, profanity, and culturally salient lexical items, while also contributing to a deeper understanding of hip hop and Black culture. The study offers a methodological foundation for future corpus-based research on rap lyrics.