Andreessen Horowitz Invests $15M In Text Annotation Start-up Rap Genius

Here’s an investment out of left field, but not really. Andreessen Horowitz is dropping $15 million into startup Rap Genius. It’s not just about rap, though. Think of it as “crowdsourced explanations of lyrics and historical texts.”

Here’s what the firm had to say by way of Rap Genius’ blog:

I’m delighted to announce that Andreessen Horowitz is investing $15 million in Rap Genius.

Given that Rap Genius is a web site where people explain rap lyrics, and given that my partner Ben is a noted rap fanatic, your first reaction might be, “That Horowitz guy has completely lost his mind.” I, on the other hand, find rap every bit as comprehensible as ancient Mesopotamian. That’s why I’m writing this blog post – not him. Let me explain why we’ve invested in Rap Genius…

We knew that Ben Horowitz was a rap fan, but to the tune of $15 million? We had no idea. Rap Genius is a community of people super into the musical genre and says it is one of the “fastest growing web sites in Y Combinator’s history.”

After making a few quips about Horowitz’ rap fascination, Andreessen reveals that the real reason the top VC is investing in Rap Genius is because the founder’s grand vision goes beyond rap music to all text annotation.

Read the rest of this article at TechCrunch 

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