What is the Purpose of an Album in HipHop?

B

BIGMOZ

Guest
With Bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Pink Floyd....I understood the purpose of the album. It wasn't solely to force the consumer to purchase a packaged product. The albums had songs that were all linked in some manner. PF Dark Side of the Moon was a concept album; The Beatle's Abbey Road was the same. But in HipHop, an album is a disconnected piece of individual tracks. Songs have little to nothing to do with each other, other than the rapper is rapping about the same thing (women, money, violence). Why are they still trying to push albums onto the public?

From the label's side, I assume its that they are hoping that the consumer purchases the entire package ($12) as opposed to select individual tracks for $.99.

From the artist's side, I just don't get it, other than for Branding purposes (Carter I, II, II; Maybach Music I, II, II, etc). Why don't artists focus on individual tracks and push those through distributors like iTunes, Amazon, etc? The artist's tours can be based on all the singles that they release as opposed to albums. This also takes away the industry's focus on first week sales. You get a steady revenue stream through the year based on your catalog of singles.

I'm sure there are good reasons for the industry still pushing albums, but I'm probably overlooking them.
 
the album is a collection of work similar in nature to the older opus numbering used for composers publishing prior to the invention of recording technology

- i.e. they are contemporaneous pieces that illustrate where an artist is at a particular point int their creative development, a snapshot of their output if you will

as such it serve as a means of providing their audience with a colelctive overview of their work at point in time

I would also add that concept albums really did not exist before the mid 60s (The Beatles "Sgt Peppers" and Zappa's "We're Only in It for the Money" are the first two that I am aware of).

prior to this and even after, the concept of an album was similar in nature to a photo album - a collection of songs recorded/written at the same time, providing a snapshot (as I said above)
 
there are hip-hop albums out there that form a cohesive whole (lots of early wu-tang, illmatic, mobb deep from infamous-murda muzik are the first that spring to mind.)
 
Some rappers do create concept albums and have whole bodies of work that have songs are inter-connected with one another. But it definitely is heading towards a single driven market. Alot of albums are just a compilation of songs put together, but I see music become mostly a digital thing. The physical format would only be a collectors item for a few that desire it. A physical product for the masses will probably be a thing of the past.
 
An album doesn't need to be a "concept album" in the popular sense. But like bandcoach said, it's a way for any artist to portray where they're at creatively, personally, philosophically, stylistically, etc. So when another album comes out in 1-2 years, you can see how the artist has progressed. I think it creates a better connection between the artist and the fan.

In hiphop, the disconnect lies in the rapper using so many producers on their albums these days, and putting out material so often. I wouldn't call "Ill Communication" a concept album, but it sounds cohesive coz 90% of the tracks are either Money Mark or Mario C, or both. You take a look at the album credits for today's artists.. there might be 2-3 from one guy, and a bunch of single tracks from several other producers, and they all have different styles. How can you get a cohesive collection like that? Granted, you don't want everything sounding exactly the same, but I think it should sound like it's at least coming from the same points of view, the same group of musicians.

Flip it to the producer side.. Would you prefer getting 1 beat placed on a big rapper's album, or would you rather put your name on a whole album, and show the audience everything you got? I'd choose the latter, and I actually hope more rappers find 1-2 producers they like, and develop a sound with them.
 
Last edited:
hollandturbine said:
It's more cost effective to promote an entire album full of songs.
Click to expand...


Not true.


If your fan base already knows that you come out with a new song on the first of every month, then promotion isn't necessary. Just the fact that you are releasing another product is promotion in and of itself.



This is why I advise my clients to just release music on a set schedule, so that they don't have to pour money into getting attention, because they won't ever stop getting attention.
 
j.troup said:
Not true.


If your fan base already knows that you come out with a new song on the first of every month, then promotion isn't necessary. Just the fact that you are releasing another product is promotion in and of itself.



This is why I advise my clients to just release music on a set schedule, so that they don't have to pour money into getting attention, because they won't ever stop getting attention.
Click to expand...

You basically just presented a straw man argument about the value of paying for promotion Vs not paying for promotion instead of addressing the actual statement that "It's more cost effective to promote an entire album full of songs."

As for your straw man argument, first of all you are talking about a preexisting fan base, and that they just instinctively know that a new song comes out every month without any promotion....I call bullshit on that statement because even you are alluding to the fact that word of mouth is an effective enough form of promotion.

As for the regular release strategy I don't really take issue with that at all, but ideally you want to create buzz (viral anticipation for a product you haven't released yet) and you want people to discuss and share their positive experience with other people, and albums do this quite well as they can be propelled as a whole based on individual bias based upon a select few tracks, as in person A likes tracks 1,3,4 and says "it's a good album" person B agrees that it is a good album but because they like tracks 5,8,9 with a single people like it or they don't and if they don't they are going to lose interest and they are not going to be a viral marketing asset.
 
I agree. Albums no longer serve a purpose. There are, however, some artist I would expect to release albums. Usually, those artist are more artistically inclined than others, and have the skill-set needed to put together a great body of work.
 
I personally like albums. I wish we still had the full size vinyl albums with the great art work on the covers, but those days are just about gone. What J. Troup described is now the business model of most these days. It is now singles oriented, which is why artists now use so many producers. Do I like it? No, but that's the reality.
 
I think you need to go listen to some better hip hop albums.

Sounds to me like you been listening to alot of hip hop garbage from what you described. Good Kid Madd City does not sound like what you described. Neither does Cocaine Pinata or Life is Good or 12 Reasons to Die. And these were all recent. That's just my opinion tho. I dont have your ears or your taste. So idk wtf you would consider "cohesive". My introduction to hip hop albums were Enter the 36 Chambers and Doggystyle. Joints like those are my personal point of reference for hip hop. It depends on your taste that's gonna impact your perspective as far as the "purpose".
 
I think this depends on who is making the album. Does Jay-Z need to make albums in 2014? No. In Rock, Aerosmith just came out and said they make enough from touring, and that albums aren't financially sensible to them anymore... but they're Aerosmith.

If you're starting out, I think you should be dropping an album or at least an EP. Whether it's 1984 or 2014, your first impression needs to be more than 1 song... Even if just for the fact that your new fans can hear more of you right off the bat, instead of hearing one song, waiting for the next one song, and possibly forgetting about you.

It can still help frame you as a serious, dedicated artist with a lot to offer. Might not be a financial boom, but your first release is about making connections with the people who you intend as "fans" moving forward. I think you do that better with a collection of songs, rather than 1.
 
Last edited:
It definetely has to do with the use of multiple beatmakers with style so differing from one another. Albums will always feel disjointed as long as you put them together like that. I'd say that there doesn't need to be a purpose with an album but it feels more thought-out when there is one. I personally like it better from an artistical point of view, when there's a vision guiding the project. As always though, we can't blame the artists without looking at the audience and what they're asking for. There was a balancing/checking factor in Hip-Hop that allowed us to recognize quality and righteousness that has faded away as the genre has become more popular.. everything goes full-circle, there might come a time and a generation some time in the future that won't cut any slack to nursery rhymers talking about their Maybachs and other sh*t.. who knows
 
to get the most mics u can get...well thats what it used to be...
 
Wow, I always thought an album was the path taken by every artist & reflected a certain period of an artists life. I guess with the internet now, you can release each song individually. The problem with singles is not every song is designed to be a single and some songs grow on you over time. There are some definite advantages to an album like skits, interludes etc.. Take those famous Dela Soul and ghostface skits. They would have never been released to the public under today's single driven market.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top