Mapping Jay Z’s Collaborations
The interactive graph below charts Jay-Z’s partnerships with over 150 collaborators—producers, fellow rappers, and singers. This map offers a visual overview of artists’ origins. Clicking on a particular album brings up a list of associated artists and producers. Selecting the actual map or the list reveals the origins of that particular artist. Visualizing the birthplaces of various producers, rappers, and singers who have worked with Jay-Z offers insight into the geographic dynamics of his collaborations. These sorts of observations may explain how other geographic regions have influenced his sound and style
Jay-Z’s been referred to as the King of New York. However, we might also accurately view him as a King of Collaboration. New York is one of the great artistic collaboration capitals in the world.
Although Jay-Z stands as an important singular rap artist, what is particularly remarkable is how often he has joined forces with others. He seems to have gone out of his way to partner with an unusually large, diverse cast of collaborators.
Jay-Z has collaborated with southern artists such as Louisiana-born rapper Lil Wayne, Memphis native Justin Timberlake, and Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy. He has also collaborated with West Coast rappers such as Too $hort, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg, and Detroit native Eminem.
Making visual geographic observations about Jay-Z’s collaborations helps explain to what extent the Brooklyn native has extended himself beyond his East Coast roots and worked on songs with artists from other regions. Jay-Z has worked with many artists from all across the country, and visualizing their origins we can begin to pinpoint trends and ask questions about how geographic and regional characteristics influence the rapper’s style and sound.
This graph helps us to chart the origins of various collaborators Jay-Z has worked with over the course of his career.
