The day Jay-Z and Kanye West announced plans to collaborate on an entire album, there were several reasons to be skeptical. Jay-Z’s last collaboration with a major artist, R. Kelly, ended horribly after the two feuded while on tour. And when you strip away the big names and pay attention to their music, Jay-Z and Kanye West have opposing rap styles.
Jay-Z’s rap persona is that of the perfect emcee who rarely makes mistakes and remains light-years ahead of his hip-hop peers. On the other hand, Kanye West presents himself as a conflicted young black male who leans on his emotions and used arrogance to boost his once shattered self-esteem.
However, the two emcees know how to create mainstream hits while staying connected to their core street audience. Because of their names, anything less than monumental could be considered a failure.
Watch The Throne opens with “No Church in the Wild.” Assisted by vocalist Frank Ocean, the mid-tempo track reflects the uneasy thoughts of walking into the jungle or any other ungodly environment.
On “[Expletive] in Paris,” Jay-Z adopts a Southern flow over a track produced by Hit Boy. “Jordan game six, ball so hard, gotta broke clock, Rollies [Rolex] that don’t tick tock, Audemars that’s losing time hidden behind these big rocks,” he raps.
“Otis” has the retro feel of the songs from Jay-Z’s Blueprint, an album that featured production that centered around ’70s era soul samples. Although many fans raved about the song after its release, Chuck D denounced the group’s materialistic rhymes on his freestyle “Notice–Know This.”
Jay-Z and Kanye West continue with braggadocio raps about their opulent lifestyles on “Gotta Have It,” “Illest Mother[expletive] Alive,” and “Primetime.” Each song will inspire listeners to either search for ways to get rich, or it will leave them depressed as they are reminded of their own financial hardships in today’s unstable economy.
However the duo offers personal testimonials on “Welcome to the Jungle,” “New Day,” and “Murder to Excellence.” On the latter, Kanye West addresses the high murder rates of black teens in Chicago.
“I’m from the murder capital, where they murder for capital, heard about three killings this afternoon, looking at the news like ‘I was with him after school,’ a shop class where half the school got a tool, and an ‘I can die any day type attitude,’ plus his little brother got shot repping his avenue, time for us to stop and respond with black power, 41 souls murdered in 50 hours,” he raps.
Jay-Z was once quoted saying “Hip-hop needs events.” He was referring to moments that are so huge that those outside of hip-hop would be forced to take notice.
Although Watch The Throne will not be remembered as Jay-Z’s or Kanye West’s best work, the two released an exceptionally good album that caused the national media and music lovers to pay attention to hip-hop again. –amir shaw
