Rappers have the largest vocabularies in pop music with Eminem, Jay Z and Tupac Shakur all far ahead of the likes of Bob Dylan, REM and The Beatles.
A study by the online lyrics library Musixmatch of the 93 best-selling artists in history found that Eminem had used by far the most words in his 100 longest songs, with a total of 8,818. On average, he would rap a word he had never used before every 11 words.
Jay Z (6,899), Tupac Shakur (6,569) and Kanye West (5,069) were in second to fourth place respectively.
“There are four rappers in the list and they are at the top of the vocabulary chart. Amongst them, Eminem leads Jay Z, 2Pac, Kanye West and The Black Eyed Peas by a big margin,” Musixmatch said.
Dylan, the highest-placed non-rapper, in fifth, used a total of 4,883 words, with a new one coming along an average of every nine. “Given how articulate and descriptive his songs are, it is no wonder Bob Dylan ranks so highly,” Musixmatch said.
The highest-placed female artist was Celine Dion, on 3,954 words. “I had not expected a pop sensation like her to rank high since they rely on simplicity to get their message across. It lays bare my ignorance of her music,” Musixmatch wrote. “Also, she is the only one who ranks in the top 15 by vocabulary size as well as the total certified album sales.”
Dion was followed by Gloria Estefan (3,419), Beyoncé (3,206), Barbra Streisand (3,186) and Mariah Carey (3,059).
At the other end of the scale was Kenny G, a saxophone player known for his instrumental pieces, with a vocabulary of 809 words.
Just ahead of him was Bruno Mars, on 1,489 words, with the Spice Girls in third-last place, on 1,497 words. The average word count was 2,677.
The Independent