Fig. 2. Layering between the beats and dips.

Fig. 3a. Snare patterns in “I Know You Got Soul” by Rakim and Eric B. from Paid in Full
(transcribed).

Fig. 3b. Rakim’s fow and backloadedness over more than four beats in “I Know You Got
Soul” by Rakim and Eric B. from Paid in Full (transcribed).

Fig. 3c. More backloadedness in “I Know You Got Soul” by Rakim and Eric B. from Paid
in Full (transcribed).

Fig. 4a. “A Milli” by Lil Wayne from Ta Carter III.

Fig. 4b. “A Milli” by Lil Wayne from Ta Carter III.

Fig. 5. Rap’s metrical model.

Fig. 6. Te average length of rap lines from 1979 to 2009, showing maximum, minimum,
and median lengths. Averaging about thirteen syllables, rap line length has remained
roughly stable, ticking up slightly in recent years, but range has expanded, as has the
variation within these lines. (Note: the graph includes non-syllabic vocal events.)

Fig. 7. Percent variation of average length of rap line length, by year, indexed to 2009.

Fig. 8. Average dip lengths by region (East Coast, Midwest, South, and West Coast).

Fig. 9. Comparing dip lengths of ten West Coast rappers. Te bar at the left shows the averages of all ten. Shaded regions represent average dip
lengths; they are stacked here but do not sum to represent lines as a whole.

Fig. 10. Comparing average dip lengths of Los Angeles-based rappers (solid line) with
New York City-based rappers (dotted line), with range of average dip length from .5 to
2.0 syllables. Length from the center signifes the number of syllabic events within the
dip > 0.

Fig. 11. Comparing Biggie (dashed line) with other New York City-based rappers (dotted
line), with range of dip length from .2 to 1.5 syllables. Length from the center signifes the
number of syllabic events within the dip > 0.

Fig. 12. Biggie: A closer look at “Who Shot Ya” (solid line) through the lens of average dip
length. Biggie is represented by the dotted line; New York City-based rappers by dashed
line. Range of dip length from .2 to 1.8 syllables. Length from the center signifes the
number of syllabic events within the dip > 0.

Fig. 13. Tupac: A closer look at “Hit ’Em Up” (dotted line) through the lens of average
dip length. Tupac’s overall style is represented by the contiguous black line; Los Angelesbased rappers by the dashed line. Range of dip length from .5 to 2.5 syllables. Length from
the center signifes the number of syllabic events within the dip > 0.

Fig. 14. Average dip length of “Who Shot Ya” (solid line) versus “Hit ’Em Up” (dotted
line). Range of dip lengths from .5 to 2.5 syllables. Length from the center signifes the
number of syllabic events within the dip > 0.

Fig. 15. Lil Wayne’s varied style (indicated by the dashed gray line) compared to Los
Angeles-based rappers (dotted line), New York City-based rappers (dashed line) and
Atlanta-based rappers (hybrid dashed and dotted line). Range of dip length from .5 to 2.5
syllables. Length from the center signifes the number of syllabic events within the
dip > 0.

Fig. 16. Te ten most common variants (in rank order reading from left to right,
including all line types) and their average line length.

Fig. 17. 1979–1982 (e.g. Te Sugarhill Gang, Melle Mel). Number of syllables per line, and
percentages of each, during this period.

Fig. 18. 1983–1986 (e.g. Kurtis Blow, Cold Crush Brothers). Number of syllables per line,
and percentage of each, during this period.