If Google had to raise fund for the maintenance of its continuous operation, Hip-Hop Word Count has been raising money since December through Kickstarter.com. The main objective of this fund raising project is to pay programmers who have been coding the custom PHP to get the website finished and running smoothly, consultants who have been helping to design the interfaces, and some of the money will go to data acquisition and data clean up while part of it will go to the hosting bills.
The Hip-Hop Word Count is an application comprised of 50,000 rap songs spanning from 1979 up to present. Aside from counting the words in each song, the Hip-Hop Word Count also provides a method to analyze the education level needed to understand each song, the artistic level of each verse as it provides insight to the cultural approach to the music that has established itself as a global phenomenon.
As per the latest update, Hip-Hop Word Count has raised a total amount of nearly $9,000, and still accepting donations to fund for additional expenses such as beta website access, behind the scenes footage and an invitation to their New York fundraiser.
