Epic Concept Rap
tagStarted 1999Peak 2000-2016Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Album-length rap built as a single story with a narrative arc, recurring characters, skits-as-scenes and orchestral or symphonic scoring sized to the drama. Songs function as chapters; interludes carry plot; production swells with strings, choirs and motifs to mark turning points. The unit is the album, not the single, and ambition runs to rap opera and sci-fi epic.
History
Prince Paul's A Prince Among Thieves (1999) framed a full 'hip-hop opera,' and Deltron 3030 (2000) followed with a dystopian sci-fi rap opera scored by Dan the Automator. Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), subtitled 'a short film,' and Logic's space epic The Incredible True Story (2015) carried the form into the prestige streaming era.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Prince_Among_Thieves
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deltron_3030_(album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Kid,_M.A.A.D_City
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_True_Story