Artist: The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West)
Album: Watch The Throne
Release Date: 8.8.11 (digital)/ 8.12.11 (physical)
Jay-Z and Kanye West have joined forces to form The Throne, ushering in what could be a historical era in hip-hop kicked off by the release of their debut collaborative album Watch The Throne. The album is already in digital retailers, with a physical release set for August 12, an endeavor to eliminate leakage of the album prior to its intended release. Overall, the project is a sure success though it’s a bit too early to label this album a classic. Still, the highlights are plentiful and are certain to bring about a shift in the way music is made and delivered. The sound and vibe of this album is very epic, stadium-sized even. The way the music plays out, it’s apparent some of the songs were meant for the stage, effectively making the impending Watch The Throne Tour even more of a hot ticket item. But let’s delve into the album.
Frank Ocean joins the duo on the opening track, No Church In The Wild, crooning the song’s hook over a fierce and thumping Kanye beat. The lyrics speak mostly in metaphors but the confident tones of both rappers set the vibe for the remainder of the project – a perfect opening track. Niggas In Paris re-introduces the braggadocious feel that the lead single Otis evoked, and it’s continued over a James Brown sample on The Neptunes’ contribution Gotta Have It. The mega stars write the vision they have for their future kids on New Day, a more mellow track with a haunting Nina Simone sample, another highlight that I’m sure will resonate in hip-hop for years to come. Q-Tip contributes to one of the greatest songs on the album That’s My Bitch, where the fellas shed light on the standards of beauty as they relate to women of color (“But why all the pretty icons always white?… Back to my Beyonce’s, you deserve 3 stacks for the Andre…“) Jay and Ye tag team a ferocious beat from Swizz on Welcome To The Jungle and switch the style to a sort of tag-in/out format. Jungle turns up the heat with Jay-Z delivering arguably his best work on the entire album – a street banger for sure. Who Gon Stop Me, as it’s title suggests is another chest-out banger over a sampled Flux Pavilion track that has an interesting shift midway through. It’s probably my favorite on the album because the quality of the lyrics and the production are almost identical. Another instant fave is the powerful and solemn Murder To Excellence delivering a resounding principle to the hip-hop community: in the same way that we have black-on-black murder (“too much enemy fire to catch a friend /41 souls murdered in 50 hours“) , we can and will have black-on-black excellence. The track is a sharp contrast to Swizz Beatz’s earlier contribution, showcasing a bit of Kanye’s raw vocals to help bring light and inspire a transition in our communities, from murder to excellence. Frank Ocean reappears on Made It In America, an homage track that evokes classic Jay-Z and the album is closed with Mr. Hudson on Why I Love You.
There are moments on the album, many in fact, where Jay’s lyrics take a back seat to Kanye’s ferocity on the mic. By some perspectives, it would appear that Jay is actually passing the throne to Kanye with this album, stepping back so Ye can take the lead. That’s not to say Jay-Z is in any way a slouch on Watch The Throne, but Kanye has a much more intense delivery and his hunger is just felt a lot more. The only track I wasn’t really feelin is Lift Off, where the Beyonce-feature seems almost obligatory. The song just doesn’t seem to fit on this album at all and stands out from the remainder of the project for its lack of creativity. In short, blah.
Overall Watch The Throne is definitely an excellent collaborative project, it has versatility, progressive production, and two of hip-hop’s biggest names giving their best on one solid project. Critics that attack the style of production should realize the gap-bridging that’s taking place. Kanye and his team of producers (including 88-Keys, HitBoy, The RZA, Q-Tip, Mike Dean, Sak Pase, Swizz Beatz and more) incorporates samples of legendary music by Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Nina Simone and Otis Redding among others and fuses them with new trends in music. The album isn’t geared towards street bangers or club anthems – this is performance music, fit to rock sold out international stadiums. The most admirable characteristic of Watch The Throne is the quality of this album without submitting to mainstream and pop music trends. It’s this variation from the standard that keeps Jay and Ye at the top of hip-hop, and it’s this same quality that makes every hip-hop fan Watch The Throne – amazing album!
Sound-Savvy rates Watch The Throne with 4.5 out of 5 platinum headphones.
good point ^^
The album is dope. I feel they tried to bring back the All of Lights feeling with the B track. Over all Jay & Ye are a good combo but this is a Kanye album. Gotta Have It is my joint doe.
VERY ACCURATE synopsis! I understand throwing Beyonce on the piece, but not feeling it AT ALL. Currently, Who Gon Stop Me is my cut, but there are some lyrical gems sprinkled throughout.