As the massive BTS “ARIRANG” takeover sweeps across cities this month, Korean stan culture is driving online conversation worldwide.
Search interest in the UK for “BTS fandom” surged by 5000% in the past 24 hours, highlighting the extraordinary influence artists can have beyond their music alone.
Today’s biggest stars don’t just shape fashion trends and consumer habits; they also shape the cultures that emerge around them online. And while K-pop artists are often associated with some of the internet’s most dedicated fanbases, their communities appear considerably more family-friendly than those surrounding many rap and hip-hop stars.
In light of this, the experts at Fanatix analysed over 250,000 Reddit posts from this year, spanning over 100 artists. Using a text analysis lexicon, they counted instances of profanity across each fanbase, ranking artists and genres according to the swearing habits of their fans.
The study found that K-Pop communities are officially the internet’s most PG-rated music spaces, recording an average cuss-factor score of just 3.34 out of 10. Even the genre’s most explicit fandom, BLACKPINK, averaged just 0.1 offensive words per post, just 5.5% of the rate recorded among fans of Lil Wayne.
Key findings:
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Rap and Hip-Hop fans have the most explicit language overall, earning a cuss-factor score of 8.77/10, and recording the highest percentage of offensive words in both posts and comments.
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Metal group Death Grips have the ‘rudest’ online fanbase, scoring 9.74/10. Notably, all artists in the metal category have a cuss-factor score above 7.00/10.
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K-Pop has the most PG community, averaging a cuss-factor score of 3.34/10.
By genre – which fans have the worst language?
|
Genre |
Post count |
Comment count |
Total count of offensive words |
% of comments with offensive words |
% of posts with offensive words |
Cuss-factor score /10 |
|
Rap / Hip-hop |
98,758 |
1,374,591 |
93,399 |
4.72% |
2.25% |
8.77 |
|
Metal |
10,565 |
221,188 |
11,973 |
4.33% |
1.62% |
8.39 |
|
Alt / Grunge |
34,998 |
567,544 |
21,205 |
2.88% |
1.32% |
6.95 |
|
Rock |
40,023 |
899,030 |
31,086 |
2.84% |
1.21% |
6.72 |
|
R&B |
10,493 |
113,000 |
3,328 |
2.42% |
0.53% |
6.38 |
|
Indie |
28,824 |
388,548 |
11,492 |
2.10% |
1.20% |
6.23 |
|
Electronic |
3,736 |
40,523 |
1,062 |
2.21% |
0.61% |
6.23 |
|
Country |
2,535 |
26,723 |
783 |
2.27% |
0.87% |
5.73 |
|
Pop |
34,455 |
516,183 |
13,342 |
1.99% |
0.65% |
5.60 |
|
K-pop |
14,756 |
220,635 |
2,380 |
1.10% |
0.25% |
3.34 |
You can find the complete dataset, including a ranking of 100 artists here.
Rap and Hip-Hop fans can’t stop swearing online, with close to 100k cases of profanity in 2026
Rap and Hip-Hop fans have the highest cuss-score factor, at 8.77/10, as fans flock to forums with profanity-laden posts. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that Lil Wayne’s fanbase ranks second overall in the study, with a cuss-factor of 9.64/10 and an average of 1.82 offensive words per post – the highest of any artist analysed. This mirrors a finding from a prior analysis of music artists, which found Lil Wayne’s own music contains the most swear words of all time; it seems his fans have taken a leaf out of his book.
21 Savage’s audience closely follows, earning a cuss-factor score of 9.63/10, boosted by the highest share of comments with bad language at 7.83%. Meanwhile, Playboy Carti fans rank third overall with a score of 9.62/10, while recording the highest total volume of profanity in 2026, racking up 27,657 swear words across posts and comments.
Metal fans rank second, with a cuss-factor score of 8.39/10, with 4.33% of comments containing offensive language – almost four times that of K-Pop fans. It may come as little surprise, given that previous research has linked metal music to emotional release and stress relief. The findings suggest fans bring that same intense energy to online forums, where discussions are often just as passionate as the music itself.
System of a Down’s fans take the crown as metal’s biggest swearers, earning a cuss-factor score of 9.38/10. Tool (8.76/10) and SlipKnot (8.66/10) round out metal’s most badmouthed fanbases – though every artist in the genre scored above 7/10, proving metal fans rarely hold back online.
Alternative/Grunge places third, with a cuss-factor score of 6.95/10. The genre’s online communities may be slightly more PG-friendly than Rap or Metal, but there’s still no shortage of colourful language.
Leading all 100 artists, Death Grips boasts a cuss-factor score of 9.74/10. Scoring high in all metrics, 6.53% of comments and 4.24% of posts are studded with offensive language. Depeche Mode, on the other hand, has a cuss-factor score of just 3.7/10, showcasing the variety of how fans communicate and express themselves online, even within the same genre.
The most PG fanbases
Communications among K-pop fans are significantly more ‘polite’ as they score just 3.34/10, with posts containing bad language representing just 0.25% of the over 14,700 analysed. Even BLACKPINK, who score highest within the category, have 0.1 offensive words per post – representing just 5.5% of Lil Wayne’s share.
Pop music follows, earning a score of 5.60/10 on average – though like alt, a much wider spread is present throughout the category. At the top sits Chappell Roan with a cuss-factor score of 8.13/10 and 1.15 ‘offensive’ words per post, whereas Harry Styles scores just 3.48/10, and only 0.18 bad words per post.
Country music fans also keep things relatively clean-cut, scoring 5.73/10 on the cuss-factor scale.
