The rise and fall of hip-hop's greatest record labels since 1989, in one incredible GIF

Polygraph's latest digital interactive visualizes the historic rise and fall of more than 600 hip-hop record labels in the US since 1989.

Polygraph founder Matt Daniels worked with Rhymesayers, a Minneapolis-based hip-hop label, to create the project just for fun. The result is, in fact, fun. The GIF of the project's map, below, shows the labels that garnered the most Billboard hits each year.

Southern labels kick in not long after LA labels drop off the map, literally

Polygraph

Polygraph shared data-driven insights, too, like the distribution of hits across labels. You can compare years to see how many labels collected top Billboard hits.

In 2004, more record labels enjoyed spending time on the top of the charts than in 2014

Polygraph

In an email, Daniels provided insight into the trend by noting, "Tracks chart for longer. ... This means that success is typically coming from a handful of labels, compared to the past."

The top 10 labels based on how many weeks they led Billboard:

Polygraph

For hip-hop fans dying to listen to music and enjoy the research, the interactive is an audio experience, too — just click on any bubble on the map to hear a clip of a song from that label.

I'm more than happy to partake in any opportunity to enjoy the song "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down," which helped Bad Boy become one of the most popular labels in 1997. It would also be cool to see this research expanded to visualize the social graph of artists, since personal connections are an important part of hip-hop history. For example, Bad Boy's founder, Sean Combs, began his career at Uptown Records, where he first signed Notorious B.I.G. before launching his own label. These bubbles, at the end of the day, represent history-making people as much as companies.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via