#TheJayZMixtape Main MenuAbout the Mixtape: Table of ContentsTable of Contents#TheIntroduction: Why Jay-Z?An Introduction to the digital hip hop studies#TheLanguage: Visualizing Jay-Z’s word usageThis path explores Jay Z’s word usage, frequently used words, and similes across 12 albums.#TheCollaborations: Visualizing Jay-Z’s collaborationsThis path explores Jay Z’s collaborative efforts with artists from coast-to-coast.#TheSamples: Visualizing Jay-Z’s samplesThis path visualizes the interconnectivity of Jay Z’s music by visualizing his music samples.ConclusionFinal thoughts, Thank you's, and acknowledgementsAcknowledgementsAbout this BookCitation and Copyright InformationKenton Rambsy1a8e7c8308fe3da2a51e94dd08e0858bab2a9153Published by Publishing Without Walls, Urbana, Ill., part of the Illinois Open Publishing Network,
Jay-Z: Why Context Matters In Hip-Hop
12017-11-12T18:16:02+00:00Kenton Rambsy1a8e7c8308fe3da2a51e94dd08e0858bab2a915322In this interview with Dr. Cornell West, the Brooklyn-Born rapper talks about his memoir Decoded. At the New York Public Library, Jay-Z shares his thoughts on growing up as a hustler and feeling judged simply because of where he was from.plain2017-12-22T08:45:19+00:00YouTubeFORA.tv2011-01-07T20:28:56.000ZxtavqaiRTUUKenton Rambsy1a8e7c8308fe3da2a51e94dd08e0858bab2a9153
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12017-11-12T18:14:18+00:00The Data Rich Rapper10image_header2017-12-12T23:26:13+00:00Over the last two decade, scholars have conceived of the “digital humanities” as a way of extending the toolkits of traditional scholarship by using machine learning techniques to analyze literary art.
This project draws on Franco Moretti’s concept of “distant reading,” the process of “understanding literature not by studying particular texts, but by aggregating and analyzing massive amounts of data.” While close reading relies on analysis about the apparent inner workings of a literary text, distant reading compiles data about many, many works.
The “Jay-Z dataset” raises the possibility of looking at a dozen works by a single artist. In short, metadata provides an added context to my exploration of Jay-Z’s body of work. The data provides more context about the rapper's lyrics and albums.
One of the main implications of the “Jay-Z dataset” concerns approaches to major authors in African American literary studies. Literary scholars regularly concentrate on major authors, and they tend to do so one major work at a time: Richard Wright’s Native Son or Toni Morrison’s Beloved, or a few canonical poems by Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks. The dataset raises the possibility of moving beyond the so-called masterpieces of major authors and instead concentrating on their productivity and output over an extended time period.
Take these findings pulled from our dataset:
Between 1996 and 2013, Jay-Z produced 12 solo albums.
Across his 12 solo albums, Jay and his producers use 276 samples.
At 39%, Jay-Z’s most frequent samples come from hip hop music.
Soul music, at 30%, constitutes his next most frequent source of samples.
Jay-Z deploys over 500 similes across his 12 albums.
Attention to these types of details makes it possible to think about Jay-Z in holistic terms, not just one album or song at a time. As a result, we can make assessments about patterns and trajectories of his career over a 17-year span.