Still waiting for the Kid Cudi to attempt a Ziggy Stardust remake album, but not in a good way.
26 thoughts on “The pros and cons of rap concept albums”
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Still waiting for the Kid Cudi to attempt a Ziggy Stardust remake album, but not in a good way.
Comments are closed.
Agreed on pushing more for theme/motif thing than enforcing narrative across full album. OBCL is also prime example of good execution.
One drawback for concept albums are boring ass skit that became skip material after first listen and for me that kills any desire of owning a physical copy.
Yeah you hit it on the head for me. Often I found myself wondering if the listening experience was really enhanced by the skits attempting to join it together or if it would have been better just as a collection of songs.
Case in point organised’s equinox album. You go back to it for ‘numbers’ etc not the skits / theme.
I think Masta Ace Inc Slaughterhouse was/is an amazing concept album that barely anyone talks about. Each song pretty much was weaved together with one of the dopest intros on an album.
I disagree with Prince Among Thieves not having replay value. I still enjoy that album over and over because everything works: Paul’s humor, his deconstruction of late 90’s rap movie cliches, and most of all, the beats and songs are all great. To me, you can listen over and over the same way you can watch a favorite movie over and over. Or listen to a favorite album over and over, because those songs are excellent. The one drawback would be that the songs don’t necessarily work out of the context of the project as a whole, but if you’re the kind of person who can sit down with a full album, it doesn’t really matter.
But generally agree with the point that an overarching theme is stronger than telling a blatant story. And sometimes a mix of both is perfect, case in point Mr. Hood (which I’m surprised hasn’t been mentioned).
My favourite rap concept album is Parklike Setting’s “Schoolday 2, garbage day 4.” An album of topical tracks structured according to various school lessons. My least favourite rap concept album/s are the two Infesticon/Majesticon jawns by Mike Ladd and a gang of Big Dada/Mush also-rans.
In more recent times, I highly recommend Baba Brinkman’s “Rap guide to…” series – particularly his RGT human nature and RGT Religion. I can’t get enough of Random/MegaRan’s canon of gaming-inspired albums. In fact, Random put out a 3 CD concept album called “Language Arts” that’s jolly good.
A few honourable mentions:
The Goats “Tricks of the shade”
Dangerdoom “The mouse and the mask”
Phoenix Orion “Zimulated Xperiences”
DJ Muggs & Sick Jacken “Legend of the mask and the assassin.”
Dr Dooom “First come, first served”
Jean Grae “Gotham Down”
Extended Famm “Happy fuck you songs.”
All MC Frontalot albums.
Buck 65 “Square” and “Talkin Honky Blues”
Death Certificate is the perfect example of concept album done properly. A recent (possibly not CRC approved) example is Boosie’s & C-Murder’s “Penitentiary Chances” it’s a depressing jail album about jail secretly recorded in Angola on mp3 recorders strongly recommended
I may need to do a follow up talking about Mr Hood, Death Certificate and Nature’s ode to 80’s monster movies…Wyld Gremlinz.
kendrick albums succeed in that they make you feel smart because you listen to them, but without having to go through any effort to get there. like ted talks.
dude said mc frontalot lol
@Siincere: Agreed, very good call. Slaughtahouse is a fantastic concept album. It’s also Ace’s finest moment.
I better go back to Slaughterhouse I didn’t realise it was a concept album. Good looking on Mr hood and death certificate. Backs the point a loose connection between tracks / overriding theme not shoving it down your throat works best.
@Oneam – It’s a pretty loose concept album, but it ties together beautifully. Sittin’ On Chrome was also a loose concept album; it got some flak at the time, but I dig it, even though it can’t touch Slaughtahouse.
And I know 9th Wonder gets a lot of hate around here, but I think Little Brother’s Minstrel Show holds up really well.
Also, in terms of loose concepts, does the Dr. Yen Lo album count?
@Oneam: Slaughtahouse is essentially a parody album: Masta Ace and Digga were mocking West coast gangsta rap. Some songs are flat-out ironic and others are heavily tongue-in-cheek, but the whole project gels perfectly because the music and rapping are so damn good. The INC. took it a step too far with their second album, but I agree with Paul H that Sittin’ on Chrome didn’t deserve all the flak it received.
Has anyone mentioned Sticky Fingaz? He did those two rap movie albums (“A day in the life” and “Caught on tape”). He also did that “Black Trash: Autobiography of Kirk Jones.” I really enjoyed ADITL (own both the 2CD album and the DVD) but with the other two projects, the idea is much more impressive than Sticky’s V limited execution.
Few more suggestions:
Aceyalone “A book of human language”
Frek Sho “People in your neighbourhood”
John Smith “Pinky’s Laundromat”
Thanks for the insights guys I just remember it was dope but didn’t even check sitting on chrome cause of all the bad press. Probably my loss.
Dino 100% on book of human language one of my favorite albums ever there.
Weird thing now my whole definition of concept album has changed… I used to think it had to be a story running thru the thing usually with skits but yeah if it stays on one concept throughout then I guess technically that’s the definition.
A few more notable concept albums:
Norman “Polarity”
DJ White Lightning presents “White on white crime”
DJ Signify (+ Sage Francis & Buck 65) “Sleep no more”
Dynas “The Apartment”
Dexter “The Trip”
I don’t recognise “Death Certificate” or “Mr Hood” as “Concept albums.” Cohesive yes and with fluid segways but concept albums?
@Slappy White – I wouldn’t say “Slaughtahouse” as a whole was a parody album. Title track for sure, and “Who U Jackin’?” was definitely a funny twist on the car-jacking narrative, but for the most part, the album was solid social criticism and great battle rhymes. But it did all fit in a vague theme of critiquing/answering over-the-top gangsta rap.
I’d say that Slaughtahouse’s overarching theme is actually trying to reclaim hardcore rap from gangsta rap, i.e. Ace was showing you can still make hardcore tracks without resorting to the usual sex/violence cliches (see “Boom Bashin'”).
Sittin’ On Chrome had an East-meets-West theme; definitely one of the most West Coast-sounding East Coast albums, it works though. No parodies, though the b-side “Ya Hardcore” was.
Deltron 3030
Best concept album execution IMHO. It totally sold the idea of being from the future. It doesn’t suffer a lot of the criticisms mentioned. The replay value is extremely high in there. I still bump it on the regular.
@Paul H: Good points, you’re totally on track with your critique. I gracefully concede.
“Fear Of A Black Planet” is a concept album….repeat the name if u think not….one of the best made out there, cohesive with music and substance
wasn’t Fresh Kid Ice’s solo stuff all concept albums?….hehe
My opinion is that “Take a Look Around” is Masta Aces finest work. Slaughterhouse had his whole crew on it-Take a look Around was just him