Rap Atlas Editorial Criteria: How Artists Are Selected

HIPHOPCs publishes Rap Atlas to document Japanese rap as a network of regional scenes. Any regional guide raises the same question: who belongs on the page? This page makes the editorial test public.

Selection Criteria

Representative Artists

An artist or group can be included when at least one of the following is supported:

An official streaming release record plus verifiable national or specialist-media coverage, a documented performance, or chart evidence.
A historical role in the regional scene supported by multiple independent sources.

Artists to Watch

An emerging artist needs an official release within the latest 24 months plus at least one independent signal: media coverage, a competition result, or a festival appearance.

How Regional Attribution Works

Birthplace, childhood, crew-formation site, career-start location and current base are different facts. Rap Atlas does not merge them. A regional connection is stated only as narrowly as an artist’s own public account or credible reporting supports it.

A collaboration, guest verse or performance in one city does not by itself make an artist part of that region. The article must explain why a person appears and what kind of connection the evidence establishes.

Evidence and Editorial Boundaries

No rankings. Order follows verified activity dates or alphabetical order and carries no value judgment.
No conjecture. Missing dates or locations remain open rather than being filled from inference.
No rumor as fact. Unverified allegations involving crime, disputes, private life or medical history are excluded.
No pay-to-place decisions. Advertising and sponsorship cannot change inclusion or order.
Claim-level sourcing. Important dates, roles and regional claims link as closely as possible to the official record, first-person account or reliable report that supports them.
Translations preserve evidence limits. An English edition does not strengthen, simplify or internationalize a claim beyond what the source supports.

Corrections and Additions

Rap Atlas is a living record, not a finished canon. Artists, representatives and readers can send omissions or factual corrections through the HIPHOPCs contact form. Useful submissions include official distribution links, artist statements, venue records and reliable reporting.

Editors then (1) verify the claim against primary material and independent reporting, (2) apply the public criteria above, and (3) update the regional record and every published language edition affected by the correction. A dated note is added when the change is material. Contributors are named only if they request credit; anonymous or uncredited corrections are accepted.

If a region does not yet have an English edition, the verified correction is applied to the source record first and carried into the later translation. Draft or private editions are never presented as public.

Apply for Consideration

If an artist appears to meet the criteria but is missing, send the evidence through the contact form. Inclusion remains an editorial decision based on the same published test for every region.

Return to the English Rap Atlas hub to browse the currently published regional guides.