5/29/2023 0 Comments Rap lyrics editor![]() Unlike Genius, most of the sites that were targeted were ad-supported. In October 2013, Rap Genius was one of fifty sites targeted with notices by the National Music Publishers Association for the unlicensed online publication of song lyrics. However, the company also experienced some issues familiar to the online content field. The service also added the ability for outside publishers to integrate Rap Genius's platform into other websites to create annotated articles. In an effort to extend the concept into other genres of culture, Genius launched several new channels in 2013 including Rock Genius and Poetry Genius. In late 2012, novelist Bacchus Paine became the first current release prose author to voluntarily annotate part of her own work. Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck, RZA, GZA, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, members of the American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, also obtained verified accounts on Genius. As part of his support for the website, Nas "released the lyrics to his new single ' The Don' on Rap Genius the day before putting out the song itself". ![]() Nas became the first verified artist, using the platform to post numerous explanations of his lyrics and dispel some misinterpretations, as well as to comment on the lyrics of other rappers he admired. Such annotations are highlighted in green, rather than the usual gray. Verified accounts are offered to established artists, where they annotate, moderate, and edit their own lyrics. The popular success of the venture was exemplified by the participation of artists like Queensbridge rapper Nas, 50 Cent, RZA, and A$AP Rocky, prompting the company to create a "Verified Artists" designation. The company's three co-founders were named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 in December 2012. Ben Horowitz described Genius as "one of the most important things we've ever funded". In 2012, the company received an additional $15 million investment from Silicon Valley–based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z), prompted in part by partner Marc Andreessen's own past effort to build a group annotation feature into a web browser. ![]() In 2011, with the site "drawing over 1 million unique visitors per month", Rap Genius applied to start-up incubator Y Combinator, and "became the fastest-growing start-up in Y Combinator history", obtaining $1.8 million in seed funding, which enabled the founders to occupy offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Shaw and Google to pursue the idea full-time and bring it to fruition. After Lehman built the earliest version of the site, he-along with cofounders Moghadam and Zechory-decided to leave their jobs at D.E. Lehman and Moghadam came up with the idea for the site in the summer of 2009 when Lehman asked Moghadam about the meaning of a Cam'ron lyric. It was created in August 2009 by founders Tom Lehman (who "entered the first line of code" for the website at 12:30 PM on August 19, 2009), Ilan Zechory, and Mahbod Moghadam, the three of whom met during their undergraduate years at Yale University. The site changed its name to Rap Genius in December 2009 because " exegesis" was difficult for users to spell. Genius first started as a crowdsourced hip-hop focused site, and was originally named Rap Exegesis. Tom Lehman, Ilan Zechory and Mahbod Moghadam of Rap Genius speak onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt New York 2013 History Founding and early years (2009–2012) This happened after blogger and Rap Genius contributor John Marbach exposed its link scheme to manipulate Google search results by offering Tweets or Facebook shares in exchange for linking to Rap Genius with keyword-rich texts. Even with the search query "rap genius", results from did not appear in the top results. In December 2013, Google penalized Rap Genius for violating their backlinks guidelines-particularly involvement with blog networks-by removing them from its top search results. An Android version was released in August 2015, and in 20, the company began producing music-focused original video content and hosting live events and concerts. To reflect these new goals, the site re-launched as Genius in July 2014. That same year, an iPhone app was released. ![]() The site expanded in 2014 to cover other forms of media, such as pop, literature, R&B, and added an annotation-embedded platform. Originally launched as Rap Genius with a focus on hip-hop music, the company attracted the attention and support of celebrities, and venture capital enabling further growth. The site allows users to provide annotations and interpretation to song lyrics, news stories, sources, poetry, and documents. Genius is an American digital media company founded on August 27, 2009, by Tom Lehman, Ilan Zechory, and Mahbod Moghadam.
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