How rap reveals trends in DRUGS: Graphs show how hip-hop lyrics plot the rise and fall of illegal substances, see pictures of rappers who made reference to drugs

 Earlier this week, charts revealed a number of rappers, including the group Wu Tang Clan, may have a wider vocabulary than Shakespeare did - and now researchers have taken this lyrical analysis a step further.
As part of the Drug Slang in Hip Hop project, researchers studied the prevalence of different drugs in rap lyrics to plot how the popularity of substances have changed since the late 1980s.



It found that weed and cocaine have consistently been prevalent in rap music, alcohol is on the decline and pharmaceutical drugs have seen a dramatic rise in recent years.
The charts also reveal how changes in political policy and society can directly influence rap lyrics.

Pharmaceutical drugs were hardly mentioned in rap songs during the 1990s but over the past 20 years - and in particular since 2007 - their prevelance has soared. Morphine and oxy were the main pharmaceutical drugs mentioned in rap music prior to the mid-1990s. Since then, other prescription medications have become notorious for appearing in hip-hop songs including Adderall and Xanax

 The researchers began by gathering data from the Rap Genius site – the same one used in Matt Daniel’s vocabulary study.

In the context of the charts, prevalence of a drug was based on the total number of rap songs referencing that drug in a year, divided by the total number of songs released annually.
The researchers excluded certain substances and slang phrases to prevent the results from becoming skewed.

For example, heroin was left out because it is sometimes referred to as ‘boy’ - a common word used in other contexts.

Alcohol's prevelance in rap lyrics has been the most changeable, pictured. It's consistently been popular, but particular brands have fallen in and out of favour. Rappers still have a preference for Hennessy cognac, also known as Henny, and its popularity began in the mid 1990s. While the prevalence of Patron and Cristal, which peaked in the mid and late 2000s respectively, has begun to taper off. The charts reveal that alcohol in general is now declining in rap lyrics, seemingly being replaced by illicit drugs

Cocaine was already popular in rap music during the late 1980s, the date the researchers began their analysis, but its prevalence dipped in the early 1990s. By 2004, prevalence was the highest it had ever been but towards the end of the decade its popularity fell again in line with a rising popularity of pharmaceutical drugs. A drop in cocaine references were also mirrored with a drop in alcohol-related lyrics

 The stacked area graphs highlight the prevalence of different phrases, and therefore drug references, by nature of their vertical height.

Historically, weed and cocaine have been the most prevalent drugs in rap lyrics, according to the research.

Weed equally came out on top as the most-mentioned substance in rap music today.

The top five rappers who made the most references to weed, cocaine, pharmaceutical drugs, codeine and MDMA

 The analysis revealed weed began its reign in the early 1990s with a steep increase from previous years, and has remained consistently high ever since.

This was reflected in society. In 1977, 11 states decriminalised marijuana possession, but during the 1980s political policies about illicit drugs and the prosecution of non-violent drug offenses increased.

During the 1992 presidential election, Bill Clinton then voiced his opinion favouring treatment over incarceration.

This chart reveals the number of songs mentioning the different drugs, including weed, cocaine, pharmaceutical drugs, codeine and MDMA

lyrics that include drug references include Jay Z's, pictured 2009 song Empire State of Mind, in which he raps 'MDMA got you feeling like a champion.' 

Snoop Lion, previously known as Snoop Dogg, pictured right, has consistently rapped about weed in songs including his 'The Weed Iz Mine' collaboration with Wiz Khalifa in 2011, and references to 'real sticky icky' in Still D.R.E with Dr Dre in 1999

rapper Lil B, pictured, made the most references to cocaine, MDMA, and codeine, including the I'm Heem lyric 'yeah dough fiend, drink mean, like codeine.'

' Eminem, pictured, included the most references to the pharmaceutical drugs. For example, in I'm Having A Relapse track he raps 'pop a Xanax, relax'