10 Greatest Hip Hop Concept Albums

One of the kings of conceptual hip hop, Masta Ace’s masterpiece is arguably this 2001 album, which serves not only as the redemptive tale of a young ex-con but as a celebration of the music which made the narrator - and Ace himself - the man he is today.

The record starts with the moody “Too Long”, in which Ace recounts his time behind bars. He’s released back to Brooklyn, but soon finds himself back on the same tough streets - album highlight “Block Episode” muses on street violence, its frequency and just how unremarkable it is,

Ace’s narrator escapes his surroundings for college, but the lure of the game is always there, most notably on “Unfriendly Game”, an unflinching drug track with another beat by Lusic Tineo, whose production underscores several of the record’s best tunes.

The album ends on a positive note, with Ace’s character freeing himself from the street life, and the coda “No Regrets”, on which he charts his course to the top, shouting out those he came up with.