Which album do you think is the best over-all story telling album, along with the one with best songs on it? Thinking about it, I don't think this type of album has been perfected in rap yet. Any day someone could drop a story better than any of these. Still, a good group of albums I feel, but I'm stymied as to which is best. What say you?

Poll question: What is the best story-telling rap album?

Poll result (20 votes) The Equinox by Organized Konfusion (0 votes) Vote undun by The Roots (4 votes) Vote 12 Reasons to Die by Ghostface Killah & Adrian younge (0 votes) Vote A Prince Among Theives by Prince Paul (8 votes) Vote Disposable Arts by Masta Ace (2 votes) Vote Good Kid m.a.a.d City by Kendrick Lamar (6 votes) Vote

THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF SLICK RICK


stop playing.

"The Great Adventures" is a classic, but I'd say the distinction is the difference between episodic television verses serial television. I want to know what is the best 'serial' rap album, where all the songs are about one story.

but I'll just leave it here, off to the side.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/133594-kanye-west-my-beautiful-dark-twisted-fantasy/

Of the options, it's hard to go against my sentimental favorite, Disposable Arts. And I'm a bit surprised that De la Soul Is Dead was left off of here, though I suppose it's a bit more abstracted as most of the storytelling happens outside the context of the music. They're definitely telling a story on that one, though.

Without those two, and again with respects to the Ace man, I'm actually surprising myself a little and going with the Kendrick album. Prince Among Thieves was an amazing accomplishment but it's not an especially engaging storyline, as was sort of proven when Masta Ace came with A Long Hot Summer and something felt *just a little* off compared to DA.

6. Kanye West - MBDTF: 9.72
30. De la Soul - ...Is Dead: 9.01
43. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city: 8.95
81. Masta Ace - Disposable Arts: 8.70
84. Prince Paul - A Prince Among Thieves: 8.67
110. The Roots - undun: 8.35
120. Subtle: For Hero:For Fool: 8.31
282. Organized Konfusion - Equinox: 7.87
302. Ghostface Killah - 12 Reasons to Die: 7.54



Also, I'd like to throw some love Subtle's "For Hero: For Fool" record's way. It's some ol' anticon. bullshit, but it's probably the pinnacle of that bullshit. Was a stunning, confounding, perennial experience for a budding pot/music head.

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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

that is, I discovered pretty early on in the review process that if you made a playlist consisting of the album played in CD sequence followed by in storyline sequence, it became a sort of remarkable existential experience.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/152037-the-roots-undun/

"Prince Paul’s A Prince Among Thieves started with the death of it’s main character Tariq, but followed with a chronological story of how he arrived there. The Roots have decided to Memento the experience, doing everything backward. They’ve also stipulated that every voice on the record is inside Redford’s head, delivering different interpretations of the events and ideas leading to his death much as a person’s brain plays against itself. But what’s really interesting, to me, is what happens when you play the album itself backwards, essentially forcing the story to play chronologically. In both formats, the album begins with the protagonist asleep, on one end a physical death (“Redford Suite”) and on the other metaphorical (“Dun”). In either format, “Lighthouse” and “The OtherSide” act as guiding lights for the character; in reverse, “Lighthouse” finds Redford adrift in the ocean of urbanity, anticipating his demise with “The OtherSide” revealing his welcoming attitude towards death (a theme throughout the record).

If heard according to the tracklist, the inversion of these concepts makes equal sense, with Redford wondering what the worth of life is before finding himself facing an appraisal soon after. Many of the songs work this way, playing dual roles depending on what order you choose to experience them, and it makes for a really interesting album. The best expression of this duality is in the “Redford Suite”, which can be heard as either: A) Redford’s soul leaving his body and ascending / descending (the third and fourth movements seemingly leave this up to the listener to decide) to its destined spiritual resting place or B) the tumultuous nature of Redford’s dreams, from which he awakens to the daily stress of having two brothers, one dead and one incarcerated who anticipates Redford’s joining him soon."


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

I feel the reason I never took it as a story telling narrative is because there wasn't a separation between Kanye the character and the real guy. Also, there seemed to be a disjointed feel at times, like the guy in "Power" is different than the character in "All of the lights," who is different than the braggart in "Monster", with there being no narrative to make one lead to the other.

I guess I'm saying that instead of going from point A to point B (or point B to point A in the case of undun), MBDTF seems like an expansive, tessellated portrait --a house with many doors, with the general theme being the problems with the excesses of fame. Your review is mostly correct on the album as a whole though.

As for De La Soul is dead, I guess my excuse is that the songs don't tell a story, I kinda liken it to Little Brother's "The Minstrel Show" a great album, but the whole details of them being on a tv show and their frustrations on the network is handled in skits instead of the songs. Still, De La soul is dead is a good call on your point.

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Big PEMFin H & z's
"I ain't no entertainer, and ain't trying to be one. I am 1 thing, a musician." © Miles

"When the music stops he falls back in the abyss."

But I felt I read that it was going to be more upbeat and light-hearted. Is that true or did I day-dream that up?

but i think Moonlighting (and even brooklynati to a lesser degree) deserves honorable mention here

I,Phantom by Mr. Lif, and The autobiography of kirk jones by Sticky Fingaz. They've been some good ones over the years.

I liked it better than disposable arts...

However, I actually heard it before DA so I think that might be why.


werd.

Was just listening to Thieves yesterday.

Prince is the popular choice and I like that album but the concept was better than execution in my opinion.

Not to mention the main MC isn't fit to carry Masta Aces weed.

Skits just took up to much of the time on Prince as well.

Love the Xzibit joint though.

>
>Not to mention the main MC isn't fit to carry Masta Aces
>weed.

Are you talking about Brewin??? No way is that accurate.

Personally, even as an Ace fan, I prefer Brewin all day every day.


I wouldn't be mad if someone said they preferred Ace...but what you said above seems a little extreme.


As far as the topic-

For me, it would be tough to pick between Prince, DA, and I, Phantom.


I really don't think Undun even belongs in the conversation. They fumbled the execution of a great idea in a big way. "Each emcee is the voice of the same character" <<<< HUGE copout. Not only that, but it made the story completely uninteresting.

Had they not explained the story, no one would have even caught that it was a story. Just a boring album.

Hell, someone on here once broke down how they thought Game Theory was a story album, and it made more sense.

that shit is still amazing and you catch some parts of the story you didn't everytime you listen to it.

Tonedeff did his thing on that shit

if so, that.

and i'm gonna throw Relapse in the hat too...

it's more episodes of life of a drug dealer. "Spot Rushaz" has a narrative push, but alot of the other songs are descriptive character sketches to me.

Relapse is a good honourable mention though.

The fuck?

.

I didn't vote for it but that 12 reasons to die album gets better with every listen.

deserves mention.