Credit: NRK P3

It’s funny how much the album as an art form has evolved over the years. Initially, an album was created to be a selection of songs that give a good image of an artist. There didn’t necessarily have to be anything connecting the songs other than the fact that the same artist performed them; however, that changed over time; as the concept album grew in popularity, the way an album could be utilised evolved.

One of the biggest bands to use the concept album was The Who. With records like Quadrophenia and Tommy, the band could weave complicated narratives throughout its music, creating storylines that people could follow and writing songs from different people’s points of view.

Now, the concept album is an art form in its own right, and it’s hardly surprising that the hip-hop community have adopted it. One of the biggest benefits of being a lyricist in rap is that you can say a great deal in a short amount of time; the stories that can be explored through a 12-song rap album are much more in-depth than those that rock bands could explore.

One of the most recent artists to dive into the realm of concept using hip-hop is Lupe Fiasco on his new album Samurai. It was never supposed to be an album, but once the first song had been written, Fiasco realised an entire record was available within his original idea.

The initial idea came from a clip from the Amy Winehouse documentary Amy. In it, there is a clip of her talking on the phone, telling her producer, Salaam Remi, that she can’t stop writing battle-rap-style lyrics and is keen to get some recorded. The album was born from this idea, as the rapper writes both in tribute to and from the perspective of Amy Winehouse.

“Hello doll, it’s Amy,” she says on the clip that inspired the new album, “Salaam, yeah, I keep coming out with all battle raps and… they’re just pouring out of me, like Wu-Tang stuff, like, but really neat, very beautifully alliterated little battle raps… I’m a Samurai.” With that, the inspiration for the titular track ‘Samurai’ was born, and once Fiasco had committed it to the airwaves, he realised it had to be more than one song.

“When it developed into, ‘There’s another record in there potentially’, and building off the scene that was set up on ‘Samurai’, it was like, ‘What’s the next step?’” He said, discussing the album, “I got to tell people what the story is about.”

Despite being centred around such an unusual concept, Samurai is a solid album, clearly brandishing Fiasco’s excellent lyrical ability and singing voice. He continues to solidify himself as one of the standout artists in rap and shows his innovative, creative style embedded in this concept album.