The Best Hip-Hop Concept Albums of 2008
Explore the best hip-hop concept albums of 2008 featuring standout releases with unique themes and narratives. Covering everything from personal stories and fictional worlds to cultural commentary and deeper explorations of society, these are the albums that stood out among the year's conceptual releases.
The entire album is essentially about the power of the poontang, if you will. The album follows the storyline of main character Adam who, as the title implies, passes away by the end of the album. The Death of Adam is about the final day of his life and how he died. It all started off with him catching a boner one morning when he wakes up, and his morning wood is the catalyst for his life spinning out of control from there.
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold is about making the most with what you’re given, revolving around various characters: a late-shift waitress, warehouse worker, deadbeat dad, homeless man, etc. These are people trying to cope with what they have and who they are, people who have accepted the facts that make their lives reality, who are no longer demanding something different.
The Pink Lavalamp is an introspective, loose concept album detailing Hamilton’s thoughts and emotions leading up to an attempted suicide and covers themes of depression, substance abuse, infidelity, and individuality.
Journey to the Planet of Birds is an instrumental sci-fi concept album sampling Psychedliec bird sounds.
The album is structured around the idea of a “preface” to Elzhi’s career, serving as an introduction to his artistry and setting the stage for his future work. The whole concept of The Preface seems to promise more solo records to come, on which there will need to be some expansion of Elzhi’s sound, more cohesion between tracks, and more of a focus on an overall theme.
The Show by eMC has a story that follows a day in the life of eMC doing a show on the road, covering every imaginable kind of tour issue or annoyance, including unreliable promoters, hotel expenses, the grind of press interviews, angry merchandise sellers, and the impact of being away from family.
The Mixtape About Nothing, Wale’s debut, took inspiration from the classic sitcom Seinfeld, incorporating clips from inside and outside the show… including Michael Richards’ infamous racist rant at The Laugh Factory.
Late Night Cinema is an instrumental concept album conjuring cinematic imagery at night.
A loose concept album dedicated to a Kentucky farmer. From opener “Trouble Is to swan song “Tobacco Road,” Common Market documents the farmer’s rise and struggle in a narrative reminiscent of Upton Sinclair’s Oil
Contrary to the album’s subtitle, And I Love H.E.R. is not actually a “soundtrack” but rather a concept album chronicling the story of Danny’s love affair with hip-hop music. And I Love H.E.R.’s title and cover art was inspired by the Beatles’ 1964 feature film A Hard Day’s Night, with “And I Love Her” being one of the signature songs from the film’s soundtrack. Other songs, such as I Want H.E.R. (She’s So Heavy) and Yoko Ono, also make reference to the Beatles. Meanwhile, the usage of “H.E.R.” as an acronym is an allusion to I Used to Love H.E.R. by rapper Common, the 1994 song which personified hip-hop as a woman and former love interest.
Friday Night is the saga of Dave (Serengeti) and Umar (Hi-Fidel), two working stiffs who’ve seen each other around the office from time to time. One Friday night they wind up in the same club, stood up by the same girl. With paychecks in their pockets and the weekend stretching ahead, they decide to make the most of it. A simple drive down the coast kicks off an evening of drugs, sex, music, and murder, a tidal wave of hedonism Dave and Umar will not escape intact.
The album is built around the concept of “mannequin people” who are putting on a good front but are hollow and dead inside. Planeta Squaria is a metaphor for being alienated to the point he’s literally an alien. He arrives in his spaceship at the circle otherwise known as Earth. T
The album is built around relating the streets here in the US to those around the world, and that the United States is also a 3rd World Country. He further equates the struggles of developing countries are mirrored within the rap industry. “In the same way that First World superpowers have continuously exploited the Third World for its natural resources, land, labor and industry, the major label superpowers have done the same.” – Immortal Technique
The album is primarily literally a deconstruction of the N-Word and its use in society. Practically the entire album is dedicated to this subject, but this as much an album about race and racial politics as it is about the power and usage of words.
It’s an examination of the power of memory and how it can act as its own character. It allows the listener to respect that memory can at times be the realest thing a person has in their life. The album is a mosaic of sentimentality, emotion, hip hop and nerd culture, all rolled into one. The “ship” acts as a metaphor for the mind and the physical body carrying it, exploring how one navigates personal hardships and grief.
Fun DMC is a true party album, but the concept here is fun itself. Involving the daily life of someone living and enjoying themselves in the Los Angeles neighborhoods where they have lived and grown up. They even recorded actual LA barbeques for ambient noise to set the tone… an LA party outdoors, in the bright sunshine.
There Is Only Now is a concept album where the members of the group act and react to a nearly tragic incident in Oakland, given context by the fictional radio station 90.7 FM K-NOW. The quartet sees life flash before their eyes at the album’s start on the aptly named “Time Stopped,” ducking for cover as a gunman seems intent on mowing them down. Later on a K-Now interlude, we learn that things have gone from bad to worse, with “one member missing in action, and three members contemplating reaction.”
ExitingARM places its narrator, Hour Hero Yes, in a science fiction world where he is forced to write pop songs for mass consumption. The rapper is trapped in an underworld, forced to create music solely using text and sounds from the previous two albums, A New White and For Hero: For Fool. It is a working-class code of ARMs… For all those in mid-cope and still hopeful… It’s also about the future… what will become of apathy’s high horse in today’s palm, where will it all head when the reins are barely held… how will our children ride in the face of No bees and ever so slowly more severe plight heights… Much to the chagrin of yes, his new freedom is in fact nothing of the sort… rather than breaking for an open window, it seems yes has bolted toward a box the size of all our lives… and what begins to unfold before and around him, is enough to close the sky forever, or open up the chest all men undead permanently…
Planet Squaria: The Square In The Circle has an Xbox Video Game concept. This starts the listener’s journey through XV’s play and ideology of being a Square in real life. He creates this metaphorical fantasy world, which really lets the listener get to know what type of person he is, reflecting on his childhood playing video games, swimming, and just having fun as a kid growing up in the 90s. Exploring the “Cornerverse” Planeta Squaria is a metaphor for being alienated to the point he’s literally an alien. He arrives in his spaceship at the circle otherwise known as Earth. T The spaceship represents XV wanting to get away, transitioning from socially outcast to socially accepted. Earth is round and symbolizes the inner circle or the in crowd. He tries to fit in and fails. Like an alien visiting Earth, no matter how hard it tried to disguise itself, its mannerisms, customs, and distinctive physical features would cause it to stick out. Instead of revamping his whole identity to fit in, he creates the Coolniverse. A world where being himself and being nerdy is cool.