Inspired by Life magazine’s usage of Facebook data to look at the Top 10 States For Football Fans, I did the same for another passion point - Hip Hop.  Facebook’s Lexicon collects data from conversations occurring across the platform and displays it in a handy map.  Here are the Hip Hop results, which shows the states that have the most Hip Hop fans and digital conversations occurring:

#10 - Georgia

I’m surprised to see Georgia so low, with Atlanta being home to many of the South’s top acts - Outkast, Ludacris, Goodie Mob, Soulja Boy, Young Jeezy, T.I., and many more.  Maybe it’s because the ATLiens don’t get their internet hustle on as much.

#9 - Virginia

Home to The Neptunes and Timbaland, Virginia was put on the Hip Hop map in the early 90s with Teddy Riley’s Future Records, which was responsible for Wreckx-N-Effect’s hit “Rump Shaker.”

The Clipse in a photo that couldn’t look more staged

#8 - Pennsylvania

Put on the map by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Philly is currently repped by Freeway (below), Beanie Sigel, Eve, Cassidy, and The Roots.

#7 - Florida

Considering his name and current success, it’s surprising that Flo Rida hasn’t boosted Florida higher.  Maybe if T-Pain repped his city/state like Trick Daddy used to, the ranking would be higher.

#6 - Massachusetts

While Guru (below) is the closest thing to a mainstream act that Massachusetts has had, it is the home of The Source magazine, America’s longest running rap periodical.

#5 - Texas

Houston is the heart of the Texas rap scene and the popular ’screwed up’ style.  I’ll also give them (see: Mike Jones) credit for innovating music marketing by giving the world their actual phone #’s.

UGK - RIP Pimp C

#4 - New Jersey

The Fugees (below), Naughty By Nature, and Queen Latifah brought attention to New York’s ugly sister early on, and now Joe Budden, Akon, and Just Blaze are keeping it going.

#3 - Illinois

Kanye and Common may get all of the Chicago-rapper-attention these days, but there’s a lot more to talk about that dresses way less hipster.  Twista, Do or Die, Rhymefest, GLC, and Lupe Fiasco all hail from the Windy City and let it shine in their lyrics.

#2 - New York

Known as the birthplace of Hip Hop, there’s many men turning over in their graves as they see New York not on top.  From LL Cool J, Run DMC, and the Beastie Boys to Wu-Tang, Biggie, and Nas to Fat Joe, 50 Cent, and Jadakiss, New York is never short on stars.

#1 - California

I’ll admit that a Dr. Dre picture probably belongs here since he’s had such a heavy hand in shaping the West Coast’s sound over the past few decades.  But who is a better face of Hip Hop + California than 2Pac?  No rapper has had as much pride in their city since him, which is ironic considering he was born in New York.

Now here’s something fun - If the data is normalized, meaning the size of each state is taken into consideration in relation to the # of conversations, this is what the top 10 looks like:
#10 - New Jersey and Vermont
#9 - Oregon
#8 - Washington
#7 - New York
#6 - New Hampshire
#5 - Massachusetts
#4 - California
#3 - Wyoming
#2 - Hawaii
#1 - Alaska

My guess is that Hip Hop’s influence on mainstream radio plays a large part in these results.