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Deltron-3030

Narratives in hip-hop lyrics go back to the early days of Grandmaster Caz’s Yvette, Spoonie Gee’s Spoonin Rap and Jimmy Spicer’s The Adventures of Super Rhymes, but story-driven albums in rap have been more of a rarity. There have been plenty of “concept” projects based around a theme or character, but since these lack an actual narrative, they haven’t been included. Here are some of the more notable entries into the category:

Deltron 3030 – Deltron 3030

This super-nerdy science fiction adventure from Dan The Automator and Del The Funky Homosapien chronicles “Deltron Zero, a disillusioned mech soldier and interplanetary computer prodigy rebelling against a 31st century New World Order”. Thanks to Del’s engaging style and Automator’s lush production, it’s a lot better to listen to than it sounds on paper and has developed a cult following.

Mr. Lif – I Phantom

Although it may seem like a cop-out that I Phantom provides instructions on how to follow the story in the CD liner notes, it still works without it. Breaking out of the well-worn “street stories” plot style, it focuses on the struggles of a working-class character who is brought back from the dead to confront his own demons in modern society. Over beats from El-P, Insight and Edan, Mr. Lif is able to deliver a complicated narrative with enough plot twists to keep the listeners attention.

Organized Konfusion – The Equinox

While the third LP from Prince Poetry and Pharoahe Monch featured some incredible beats and rhymes, the cliched narrative itself doesn’t really work due to sporadic narration and vague concept. It almost feels like they decided to introduce the plot concept halfway through recording the album.

The Roots – Undun

While the concept of telling the tragic tale of Redford Stevens is solid, The Roots can’t seem to resist getting carried away with their trademark self-indulgence by delivering it as a reverse-chronological narrative, which makes this hard work for the listener and comes off a little too “high-brow” for its own good.

Sticky Fingaz – [Blacktrash] The Autobiography of Kirk Jones

While the concept of telling the story of an ex-con isn’t exactly ground-breaking, Sticky Fingaz’s tale of Kirk Jones’ attempts at getting his life together is boosted by bugged-out tracks such as If I Was White with Eminem and a cover of Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World.

Masta Ace – Disposable Arts / A Long Hot Summer

All of Masta Ace’s albums have had a strong theme, but it was his final two solo projects which really demonstrated his mastery of narrative, blending skits with topically relevant songs. Disposable Arts tells the story of character who returns to Brooklyn after a long stint behind bars and enrolls in the Institute of Disposable Arts, a hilarious lampooning of music industry fuckery. A Long Hot Summer is a prequel which details how the character ended up in jail as a result of getting caught up in some illegal business. Both albums still hold up as brilliant examples of Storytelling Rap albums.

Prince Paul – A Prince Among Thieves

A landmark hip-hopera starring Breeze Brewin from The Juggaknots, A Prince Among Thieves allowed Prince Paul to take his “skit” concept – first pioneered with De La Soul – to its logical conclusion. Thanks to some clever casting of the all-star cast of guests MCs, this album managed to both tell its tale and entertain at the same time.

Ghostface Killah – 12 Reasons To Die

Thanks to the superior production work from Adrian Younge, this gruesome tale of betrayal and revenge captures a cinematic feel and the individual songs themselves stand up as dope tracks when heard out of context, although I’m not sure if it has the replay value of something like Supreme Clientele.

Keep up with Robbie’s weekly ‘No Country For Old (Rap) Men’ here.