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About the Project

Launched in 2024 with support from The 2024 UIC Awards for Creative Activity and in collaboration with the Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Museum, the Chicago Hip-Hop History Project aims to provide context and connections for all elements of Chicago hip-hop history using the MediaWiki platform.

In the News

The CHHHP is featured at the Spring 2025 UIC SparkTalks Series

The Chicago History Project is Featured at UIC Spring SparkTalks The goal of UIC SparkTalks is to spark interest, learning, and conversation through brief, impactful presentations. In this talk, Robert DiFazio describes the work of the Chicago Hip-Hop History Project and its partners.

Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Museum Prepares for Its Next Chapter

Block Club Chicago reports on the Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Museum’s closure as curators transition the institution toward a new phase, reflecting on its impact, outlining plans for relocation and future programming, and reaffirming its continued role in preserving and advancing Chicago’s hip-hop culture and community legacy.

UIC Showcases Chicago Hip-Hop History Project

UIC Today covers the Chicago Hip-Hop History Project, spotlighting its mission to document artists, artifacts, and stories that shaped the city’s hip-hop movement.

Canonical List

Our research began by developing a foundational, continuously evolving canonical list of figures, organizations, and cultural entities that shaped the history of Chicago hip-hop, drawing on foundational lists compiled in the 1980s and 1990s.

'The List' is a verified and structured dataset built from archival research, community consultation, and student-led research/documentation. 'The List' currently has 1630 total unique pages including 283 unknown artists that we are currently working to identify. Please see our editors and inclusion criteria pages for more information about our research team and data collection methods.

Comparing 'The List' with Wikipedia

   171 of the pages in the CHHHP also have a corresponding article on Wikipedia, while 307 do not have a corresponding article.

Survey of Wikipedia

Alongside this growing knowledge base, we are developing computational methods to examine the scope and structure of hip-hop scholarship already published on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is widely considered the largest general reference source in human history. It receives around 1 billion unique visits per month, ranking consistently among the top 10 most-visited websites in the world.

There is currently no established system for analyzing the representation of Chicago’s hip-hop scholarship on Wikipedia. To address this, we are using Semantic MediaWiki, the same open-source platform that underlies Wikipedia, so that our data are structured, shareable, and machine-readable for integration with broader digital humanities research.

By comparing patterns between our curated data and Wikipedia’s existing content, we identify coverage gaps, evaluate the quality and reliability of cited sources, and map where Chicago’s contributions remain underrepresented. These findings directly inform a prioritized plan for Wikipedia editing, guiding students and collaborators as they work to expand, correct, and strengthen hip-hop scholarship across open-knowledge platforms.

Disambiguation and Entity Reconciliation

Many artists and organizations appear under slightly different names or share names with unrelated subjects. Our student researchers verify and resolve ambiguous or duplicate names by working closely with the staff at the Chicago Hip-Hop Heritage Museum and other community partners.

We also perform entity reconciliation, a process that aligns our canonical list of Chicago hip-hop figures, organizations, and cultural entities with corresponding entries on Wikipedia and Wikidata.

Bibliometric Survey

At the core of the project is a bibliographic survey of Wikipedia, designed to quantify how Chicago’s hip-hop history has been represented—and where it remains invisible.

Most Viewed Articles on Wikipedia

Article	Category	Date of birth	Pageviews in past 30 days	Citations on Wikipedia
Kanye West	Producers EmCees	8 June 1977	309,055	605
King Von	EmCees	9 August 1994	205,075	191
Juice WRLD	EmCees	2 December 1998	114,820	240
Lil Durk	EmCees	19 October 1992	90,484	186
Jennifer Hudson	EmCees	12 September 1981	89,003	162
2hollis	EmCees		45,056
Young Dolph	EmCees	27 July 1985	37,742	201
Earl Sweatshirt	EmCees	24 February 1994	29,518	93
G Herbo	EmCees	8 October 1995	26,100	70
Gil Scott-Heron	EmCees Writers	1 April 1949	25,863	137
Lupe Fiasco	Producers EmCees	7 June 1989	22,949	183
Da Brat	EmCees		22,496	30
Donny Hathaway	Knowledge		21,659	65
Vic Mensa	EmCees	6 June 1993	20,045	84
Serengeti	EmCees		16,543	36
Fredo Santana	EmCees	4 July 1990	14,037	41
Polo G	EmCees	6 January 1999	11,854	90
Harold Washington	Knowledge	15 April 1922	11,308	124
Hitmaka	Producers EmCees	9 September 1985	10,226	55
Lil Reese	EmCees	6 January 1993	9,861	31
... further results

   Data sourced from the Wikimedia Pageviews API (30-day total, updated 11/10/25).

Genius

We fetch and analyze the following data via the Genius API

Total Genius songs

• Total number of songs attributed to this artist on Genius.com (including primary tracks and, optionally, features, depending on how the script is configured).

Total Genius lyric pageviews

• Sum of Genius lyric pageviews (stats.pageviews) across all songs for this artist.

Total Genius annotations

• Total number of annotations across all Genius song pages for this artist (sum of annotation_count per song).

Total Genius contributors

• Total number of unique Genius user accounts that have contributed to this artist’s song pages (approximated from Genius stats; may be a lower bound).

Wikipedia & Genius Attention Summary

Artist	Wikipedia views (30d)	Genius: total songs	Genius: lyric pageviews	Genius: annotations	Genius: contributors
Kanye West	309,055	49	4,426,619	591	1,452
King Von	205,075	149	6,579,475	1,131	3,003
Juice WRLD	114,820	35	2,020,838	259	1,010
Lil Durk	90,484	46	2,165,912	193	871
Jennifer Hudson	89,003	48	362,168	29	251
2hollis	45,056	148	232,188	121	805
Young Dolph	37,742	48	788,813	95	508
Earl Sweatshirt	29,518	45	2,714,812	432	1,793
G Herbo	26,100	47	917,909	172	569
Gil Scott-Heron	25,863	45	286,697	171	297
Lupe Fiasco	22,949	49	2,031,557	920	1,741
Da Brat	22,496	41	80,728	33	163
Donny Hathaway	21,659	49	572,483	63	324
Vic Mensa	20,045	48	2,012,715	448	956
Serengeti	16,543	34	25,866	94	147
Fredo Santana	14,037	48	517,017	80	597
Polo G	11,854	46	3,022,050	210	1,048
Hitmaka	10,226	49	1,448,928	120	708
Lil Reese	9,861	49	687,184	117	486
Twista	9,325	42	395,476	144	361
Lil Jojo	7,675	30	523,688	67	270
No I.D.	7,523	47	4,550,858	347	1,645
Lil Bibby	7,454	47	917,910	172	569
Shawnna	6,718	44	82,763	56	204
Lucki	6,689	49	679,669	266	761
Famous Dex	6,648	44	98,208	50	241
Noname	6,193	49	625,451	64	253
Saba	5,727	44	2,298,992	613	1,587
Skee-Lo	5,396	49	1,225,628	78	218
Lil Zay Osama	4,495	46	137,167	47	234
Tink	4,178	49	826,072	71	313
Open Mike Eagle	3,989	44	83,059	285	402
SahBabii	3,963	99	1,291,374	246	1,138
Rico Recklezz	3,892	34	18,936	11	76
Rhyme Fest	3,750	37	4,203,978	186	777
Young Chop	3,408	43	1,615,548	185	675
Taylor Bennett	3,277	47	1,397,072	189	494
Peniel Shin	3,227	99	215,405	72	171
Maestro	3,081	98	281,301	2	150
Young Pappy	2,738	47	1,302,743	260	473
Punchmade Dev	2,703	43	41,240	119	209
Mick Jenkins	2,618	45	460,492	327	801
MC Chris	2,443	37	9,667	96	145
IceJJFish	2,369	28	92,291	27	125
Lil Wop	2,066	49	2,086,394	142	1,051
King Louie	2,053	41	354,159	109	241
Malik Yusef	1,934	49	6,074,367	86	513
The Outhere Brothers	1,719	12	245,745	8	58
Dreezy	1,524	45	1,141,143	87	403
Star Bandz	1,478	95	898,295	678	1,008
GLC	1,260	32	1,092,596	180	527
Flosstradamus	1,259	43	199,026	93	209
Kid Sister	1,114	74	108,830	80	289
Sir Michael Rocks	1,108	47	266,507	282	491
Katie Got Bandz	1,016	12	0	16	32
Tobi Lou	1,015	47	414,349	160	555
The Legendary Traxster	962	44	3,753,197	266	1,146
Strings	842	30	366,329	39	260
Prime	831	3	0	10	7
MC Juice	762	43	5,302	63	83
Andre Vasquez	738	3	0	10	7
Milan Christopher	701	1	0	1	2
Joey Purp	691	48	393,716	260	588
Ms. Toi	681	7	0	4	13
Omen	654	40	184,665	72	283
Qwel	649	45	352,584	70	197
Sash Go Hard	590	18	12,233	8	28
Marz	577	44	68,848	41	147
Rockie Fresh	528	49	268,525	242	465
The Twilite Tone	520	43	8,244,898	384	1,920
Valee	519	39	103,294	30	184
Nate Porcalla	517	92	7,645	9	338
Lance Skiiiwalker	431	48	4,044,227	629	1,823
Towkio	409	49	1,243,029	350	651
Kidz in the Hall	387	21	0	37	62
Femdot	370	45	41,752	55	124
Mr. Lee	342	41	100,328	22	200
Hotstylz	341	12	299,188	71	94
Molemen	330	28	47,932	29	78
Tonedeff	327	41	106,738	325	272
MC Tree G	308	44	253,973	80	200
Thelonious Martin	303	48	380,991	247	566
DLow	253	49	516,032	32	250
Warhol.SS	248	48	18,060	47	173
Naledge	218	33	5,647	139	111
J. Wells	211	30	18,646	80	130
Hypno Carlito	202	35	152,394	27	155
Jeremiah Jae	193	46	16,090	101	167
Sharkula	191	3	0	4	5
Kidd Kenn	190	41	691,798	11	143
Kami	167
Gerald Walker	159	40	0	98	98
Jasiri X	158	26	6,214	153	88
Verbal Kent	157	34	13,441	71	128
Diverse	156	48	619,241	139	495
Keith James	141	4	8,609	10	27
M-Doc	137	44	1,656,701	85	345
Demarco Castle	128	45	547,380	312	655
Vakill	127	30	0	90	94
Denizen Kane	115	28	0	41	37
Qwazaar	98	7	0	7	8
Dandrell Scott	96
Showyousuck	61	26	0	82	75
Ridgio	42	93	0	1	126
F.Stokes	30	5	0	5	31
Phashara	14	35	83,023	25	59
Ta'Rhonda Jones	0	11	0	0	18

   Wikipedia views from the last 30 days; Genius stats aggregated from the artist’s catalog.

The Elements

✶ Graffiti Writing

• Graffiti Artists (42 members)

✶ DJing

• Disc Jockeys (DJs) / Turntablists (89 members)
• Radio Personalities
• Producers (96 members)

✶ Street Dancing

• Street Dancers (18 members)
  • Lockers
  • Poppers
  • Breakers
• Street Dance Groups

✶ Beatboxing

• Beatboxers (1 members)

✶ MCing

• EmCees (MCs) (631 members)
• Hip-Hop Groups (90 members)
• Hip-Hop Collectives (16 members)

✶ Knowledge

• Philosophies
• Writers

More Elements

Click here for a full list of categories including:

• Entrepreneurs (4 members)

• Fashion Designers (1 members)
• Music Video Directors (1 members)
• Singers (10 members)
• Recording Studios
• Record Labels
• and many others...

Genres

The following hip-hop genres are associated with Chicago and have an article on Wikipedia:

  * Chicago hip-hop
  * Drill music
  * Midwestern hip-hop
  * Chopper (rap)
  * Comedy hip-hop
  * Freestyle rap
  * Hipster hop
  * Mumble rap
  * Political hip-hop
  * Progressive rap

EchoNest (Spotify) includes Chicago artists in each of the following genre maps:

  * Hip-Hop
  * Rap
  * Gangster Rap
  * Melodic Rap
  * Golden Age Hip-hop
  * Hip-house  
  * Chicago Bop
  * Chicago Rap
  * Chicago Drill

Recently Updated Pages

• Sandman (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:57:05)
• Angry Blackmen (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:52:59)
• Sasha Go Hard (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:44:59)
• Phaze-A-Matics (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:38:06)
• Pheave (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:35:59)
• Sarcastic (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:34:27)
• Phenom (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:34:04)
• G-Ball THC (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:19:10)
• Phatal (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:09:26)
• Samiam The Mc (Modification date"Modification date" is a predefined property that corresponds to the date of the last modification of a subject and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.: 11 March 2026 19:09:24)

... further results

Public Submissions (coming soon)

We are currently developing structured public submission forms using Page Forms to allow community members to contribute information for administrative review. This system will support accurate, well-documented additions while maintaining curatorial standards. In the meantime, if you would like to submit information, corrections, or supporting materials, please email rdifaz2@uic.edu. All submissions will be reviewed by the project administrator before inclusion.

For Researchers

This digital encyclopedia is a Semantic MediaWiki project. Semantic properties are used to add structured, machine-readable data to pages within this project. This allows for enhanced search capabilities, data extraction, and the creation of specialized views based on semantic information.

Contact

This site is administered by the CHHHP team.