The science fiction rap album Deltron 3030 by Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Dan the Automator is what a great concept album is all about. Every track is a song unto itself, and each one takes you deeper and deeper into an imagined future where Neuromancer meets hip-hop, with lines like “Cyber warlords are aggravating abominations / Arm a nation with hatred? / We ain’t with that / We high-tech archaeologists searching for knick-knacks / Composing musical stimpacks that impacts the soul / Crack the mold of what you think you rapping for.”

As it turns out, many musicians are super into science fiction, and many concept albums are sci fi and fantasy stories. Here’s more from BillFilm:

Rick Wakeman examines the roots of the concept album, a musical format usually based around a structured narrative, though sometimes tied together by a loose theme. He unpacks some of the most ambitious – and ridiculous – projects, from Woody Guthrie’s Dustbowl Ballads to Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes. Other works considered include the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, George Clinton’s Mothership Connection, The Wall by Pink Floyd and the Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

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