Rap and Hip-Hop fans swear more online than any other music community, while K-pop sits firmly at the bottom of the pile, according to new research from concert ticket marketplace Fanatix.
The study analysed over 250,000 Reddit posts from 2026, spanning more than 100 artists. Using a text analysis lexicon, researchers counted instances of profanity across each fanbase and assigned a “swear-factor” score out of 10 to rank artists and genres.
Rap and Hip-Hop emerged as the most foul-mouthed genre online, scoring 8.77/10, with close to 100,000 individual instances of profanity recorded across posts and comments. Lil Wayne’s fanbase ranked second overall in the artist breakdown with a cuss-factor of 9.64/10, averaging 1.82 offensive words per post — the highest of any artist in the study. 21 Savage’s audience came in close behind at 9.63/10, boosted by the highest share of comments containing bad language at 7.83%. Playboy Carti fans ranked third (9.62/10) and recorded the highest raw volume of swearing in 2026, racking up 27,657 offensive words across posts and comments.
The genre rankings in full:
| Genre | Swear-factor /10 |
|---|---|
| Rap / Hip-hop | 8.77 |
| Metal | 8.39 |
| Alt / Grunge | 6.95 |
| Rock | 6.72 |
| R&B | 6.38 |
| Indie | 6.23 |
| Electronic | 6.23 |
| Country | 5.73 |
| Pop | 5.60 |
| K-pop | 3.34 |
Metal came in second at 8.39/10, with 4.33% of comments containing offensive language — almost four times the rate of K-pop. Previous research has linked metal music to emotional release and stress relief, and the findings suggest that same intense energy carries directly into fan forums.
Heading the overall artist rankings is Death Grips, the Sacramento experimental hip-hop and metal outfit, who scored a remarkable 9.74/10 — the highest cuss-factor of all 100 artists analysed. Some 6.53% of comments and 4.24% of posts from the Death Grips subreddit contained offensive words. The band, known for their confrontational style and extreme sound, have built a dedicated underground following in the UK, with the group having previously performed at Outbreak Fest as a landmark act on the hardcore and counterculture circuit. Depeche Mode, interestingly categorised in the same alt/electronic space, scored just 3.7/10 by comparison.
System of a Down lead the way within the metal genre specifically, scoring 9.38/10, followed by Tool (8.76/10) and Slipknot (8.66/10). Notably, every metal artist in the study scored above 7/10 — the only genre to achieve a clean sweep above that mark.
At the opposite end of the scale, K-pop fanbases were significantly more restrained online, averaging just 3.34/10 across the genre. Even BLACKPINK, the highest-scoring K-pop act in the study, managed just 4.2/10, with only 0.1 offensive words per post. Pop followed K-pop as the second most polite genre overall (5.60/10), though with considerable variation within it. Chappell Roan’s fanbase scored 8.13/10 with 1.15 offensive words per post, while Harry Styles scored just 3.48/10, with a mere 0.18 offensive words per post.
Country music fans also came in towards the cleaner end of the scale, scoring 5.73/10 overall.
The findings sit within a broader cultural context of music and profanity becoming increasingly intertwined. Research has found that listening to censored music can even reduce athletic performance, and 40% of Billboard hits contained swearing in 2021, compared to 0% in 1990. Whether online fan communities reflect the tone of the music they love, or simply channel shared passion through colourful language, the study suggests the two aren’t entirely unrelated.
Image credits:
In this article: Death Grips, Lil Wayne, 21 Savage, Playboi Carti, System of a Down, Tool, Slipknot, Depeche Mode, Blackpink, Chappell Roan, Harry Styles, Reddit, Billboard, Outbreak Festival. Generated by Wikidata Schema Link Builder.
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