Rapper travels and a robot arm

January 6, 2015

Topic

Maximum Distance. Minimum Displacement. by Tahir Hemphill explores rappers’ geographic mentions in their lyrics.

Geographic mentions from the complete bodies of work of 12 rappers were extracted using the language analysis database invented by Hemphill — the Rap Almanac. These locations were translated into geographic coordinates, which were then made into points used to plot the movements of an industrial robot arm.

For several minutes at a time, the robot arm drew the paths while holding a light pen producing sculptural forms made with light. Each unique shape represents the global distance travelled by the lyrics in each artist’s career.

The above is the result for Kanye West.

Projects by FlowingData See All →

Household Types, Then and Now

Here’s how common each household type is and was — and how the makeup compares to a few decades ago.

Race and Occupation

Asian workers are more than three times more likely to be physicians. What other jobs jump out? What’s it like for other races and ethnicity?

Change in Common Household Types in the U.S.

In the 1970s, the most common household type in the U.S. was a married couple with kids. Things are different now.

It’s All Greek (or Chinese or Spanish or…) to Me

In English, there’s an idiom that notes confusion: “It’s all Greek to me.” Other languages have similar sayings, but they don’t use Greek as their point of confusion.