What’s a god to a non-believer? It’s really about, “Why is there hype if there is no music that we haven't come to expect,” but maybe I’m coming at this wrong. Watch the Throne by Kanye "Ye" West and Jay-Z had the greatest hype build-up of all time, with iTunes seeing some of the greatest sales in history in the first week of release. Mind you, this is the same album that put out limited edition physical editions which included extra music. As I watched it all go down, it became harder and harder for me to write this review.
Ye and Jay are two rap artists that I have come to respect monstrously over my tenure of being a hip-hop/rap fan. Hell, I was in a fight in middle school over In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997). Anyone care to bet that the man that made that album in 1997 and the man who now runs Rock-A-Fella Records are not the same person? I didn’t think so. Jay has become a business, man. Once you start to venture into this category, I don’t think your artistic abilities grow; they tend to take over whatever you are focused on – and that has been the problem which has overtaken Jay-Z over the last couple of years. Conversely, Kanye West has been a man that delivered a wide variety of music which constantly kept us guessing; the killer vibes starting with “Through The Wire” to 808s and Heartbreaks followed by the monster that is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy were deserving of every ounce of praise they got. That's all great and wonderful, but when I listen to Watch the Throne, all I can hear is two rich people complaining about money, completely detached from the emotional connection that we made with them on tracks like "(Always Be My) Sunshine.”
Starting with “No Church In The Wild,” I kept thinking of how great the intro to the song is. From the fresh sound which starts the song to the vocals to the animal sounds in the background, the delivery of this song is monumental. When Jay starts in, I can’t help but think if they argued over who’s voice should come first. According to a few reports, Jay and Ye were barely communicating with each other due to arguments by the time work wrapped on this album. Allegedly, the dispute revolved around a disagreement on the presentation of the stage for the upcoming concert tour for the album. Jay had pulled an advance from the ticket sales companies and wanted to keep the costs of the stage minimal to ensure he profited as much as possible. Ye, on the other hand, wanted to give the audience a show. This completely sounds like both of them, Jay on one side looking at cash, and Kanye looking at artistic delivery on the other. Why did I bring this up? This first track is purely artistic if you take out Jay’s verse. Who does that leave us with? Kanye – and if you're going to run with snap judgements on your first impression of this record, it will absolutely revolve around what you think of Kanye West.
From there, “Lift Off” is a track that might get played in the club, but I can’t imagine how one would dance to it. We’re bouncing around the floor to LMFAO these days, and “Lift Off” just doesn’t seem to match the pace needed for that atmosphere. It is motivational, in the same way that Kanye delivers his GOOD Friday tracks; it can power through a workout session, but it doesn’t match the first track and takes a wide turn. I’m already ready to pull the album apart for mixes instead of just sitting down and playing the album in a discman. For both Jay and Ye, I can do that with every album they have ever put out. Why could they not deliver this same ability on this album? The answer is simple: this album was made for the cash which was offered to them to make it. You paid for a gold album cover – and that's the only golden thing about Watch The Throne.
Artist:
www.rocnation.com/jayz/
www.kanyewest.com/
Album:
Watch The Throne is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
