Have you ever wondered just how many video game references there are in songs, or maybe even which video game or series of games has the most references? LyricFind has gathered data to tell us all just that.
LyricFind is the world’s leader in licensed lyrics and has licensing from over 5,000 music publishers, and because of this they are able to collect data and offer us information regarding video game references in music.
Their data proved interesting with fascinating cultural insights. Leading the list of video games is Pokémon with a whopping 129 songs that reference the massive franchise. Pac-Man and Street Fighter act as runner-ups with 108 an 86 songs, respectively.
Interestingly enough, the only video game from this century to make it onto LyricFind’s infographic is Fortnite with 20 songs that reference it. This is no surprise, though, as Fortnite has been wildly popular the last two or so years.
Popular artists included in the infographic include Kanye West and Twenty One Pilots referencing Pokémon, Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull referencing Donkey Kong, and Lil Wayne referencing both Pac-Man and Street Figher.
These are only a handful of the artists on the infographic, though. The full list can be seen below.
With all of this information, we’re bound to notice video game references in music more often, whereas before we may have been oblivious to their name-drops. Not that we’re thinking about it, we do love “Chun-Li” by Nicki Minaj, which is inspired by Street Fighter.
More information about LyricFind can be found on their branded website.