See a chart of the largest vocabulary in hip-hop, plotting rappers against Shakespeare and Melville

05 May 2014, 13:39 | Written by Luke Morgan Britton

(News)

(Wu-Tang Clan) (Drake) (GZA) (Kanye West) (2Pac) (DMX) (Aesop Rock)

Ever wanted to know who the most verbose and studious rapper in hip-hop is? Which rappers use varied vocabularies and what MCs resort to repetition? Well, wonder no longer.

One Matt Daniels has compiled this handy chart plotting the most notable wordsmiths of the game against one another, taking a 35,000 word sample from their work and pitting friend vs foe in rap scrabble.

Unsurprisingly, Aesop Rock comes out on top, trumping the entirety of Wu-Tang Clan (with GZA in a very respectable second place) and even beating Shakespeare and Melville themselves. Elsewhere, 2Pac, Kanye and Drake are shockingly low in the list, not quite as low down as poor DMX however…

Check the entire chart above, with more details here.