Hip Hop and the 2016 Election

Background

The 2016 election was an election markedly influence by popular culture, in ways that perhaps no election before has been. The eventual winner of the 2016 election was a former reality TV star, and all throughout the election the lines between political culture and popular culture were eroded in new ways. Our group seeks to analyze this phenomenon of popular culture shaping political sentiment through the lens of rap music. We wanted to see how the 2016 election was shaped by rap artists. Using data from FiveThirtyEight along with data from Spotify and election data we are seeking to examine how rap is shaping American political consciousness.

Candidates

Below are the candidates from the 2016 presidential election who were mentioned in rap songs in the lead up to the election

“Lookin' for me? Top floor suite of the Trump, baby”

Cam'ron, 2014

“Come through and knock Donald Trump out his toupee”

The Game, 2015

Does the sheer quantity of mentions in hip hop influence a candidates performance in elections?

Some politicians, like Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, have been prominent public figures for years, while others like Ben Carson were relatively unknown to the general population when they declared their candidacy for president. Does cultivating a recognizable public personal impact your performance in elections?

Mentions over Time by Sentiment

Examining how often candidates were mentioned in hip hop lyrics from 1989 to 2016 and the sentiment expressed towards those candidates in the song.

“Would you stay down like Hillary? / Even if you thought about killin' me?”

Ice Cube, 2000

“Every dollar I make, ten go back to Hillary and Bill, I guess life is real”

Master P, 1996

All Mentions Over Time

Examining the total number of mentions over time, because, as we all know, any publicity is good publicity

Does the popularity of songs candidates are mentioned in also affect their performance?

Bet you didn't know that Hillary Clinton was mentioned in Lil Waynes 2008 hit Lollipop. Well she was, and there's lots of other instances of politicans being sneakily mention in popular songs. Do these mentions on hit songs actually make a difference?

Song Popularity and Total Mentions

Explore both the popularity of songs candidates were mentioned on as well as the total number of times they were mentioned in hip hop songs. Area for each song is either equal for all songs or proportional to song popularity.

Hip Hop's Influence on the 2016 Election