Prince Paul

Prince Paul built his reputation behind the boards, De La Soul's early catalog, Stetsasonic, Handsome Boy Modeling School, before stepping out with A Prince Among Thieves in 1999. It's a concept album in the truest sense, a full narrative told across the runtime with guest voices playing characters rather than dropping verses, Sadat X, Xzibit, De La Soul, and Big Daddy Kane all filling out the cast. Critic Robert Christgau called it the closest thing to a true rock opera hip-hop has ever produced, one of the genre's most ambitious, least imitated experiments.