As has become apparent throughout this retrospective, Kanye West and Jay-Z have a long held professional and personal relationship with each other. When you think about each artist this at first glance can appear very strange. Jay-Z is all about tight control, business bravado, being the coolest person in the room. Meanwhile, Kanye is all about bombast, the rough edges, being the all encompassing artist who will say anything that comes to their mind.
But this goes in big part to show why their strengths, and their weaknesses, complement each other on Watch the Throne. Both are in their “own heads” in different ways. Jay-Z is the high statesman of hip-hop – in his own words, the “new Sinatra” – but at worst that makes him cold, a hermetically sealed container to his own excellence. Kanye meanwhile, while really willing to present his own demons, also has the ability to be really embarrassing. This can be true in his own music, but is made even more apparent in his guest spots, where he can be just fucking terrible.
But, rather than Watch the Throne (ha) from their respected sides, their personal friendship allows both of them to come out of their Maybach shells. Jay-Z sounds more personable than many a recent project and Kanye gets some much needed dignity. While Jay-Z tends to get the best lines on the album, it also becomes clear that creatively this is an extension of Kanye’s ideas on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: similar collaborators (NO I.D and RZA to name a couple); lush and electronic instrumentation, and experimenting with different styles and strange sampling (the minimalism in some tracks also predates the style of Cruel Summer, which in turn goes into Yeezus). The best songs on this album are where the two work off each other with different life perspectives, whilst still ultimately having a unified position.
Unfortunately aspects that they also bond over are their braggadocio and extravagant wealth. By the Watch the Throne title this should be obvious, and both these artists have made great work based on those topic, but with is being in the majority of twelve songs – sixteen in the addition we’re doing – this can be a hard position to write from without me losing a little interest. A noticeable music fault, though, is that when judging it as a Kanye West project, compared to any other Kanye project this is the least cohesive. It’s clear through ideas like the “Tristessa” repetition and black empowerment themes that an attempt at cohesion was made, but in the party to themselves Kanye and Hova left a little bit of a mess. An elegant mess though, and from a party you definitely want to keep stories from.
And in the wake of this album’s more disorganised nature, I will be returning to the trusted bullet points.
- “No Church in the Wild”
Album kicks off with one of its greatest tracks. The hook sing by Frank Ocean – fresh off Nostalgia, Ultra acclaim and who pops up again – implies some big existential crises about religions and institutions, and whilst that imagery is still there in both verses it is primarily related to how Jay-Z and Kanye are both Hip Hop Gods (which you would be hard pressed to find anyone would argue). I really understand why Baz Luhrmann used this song for the Great Gatsby trailer, for it’s incredibly cinematic; the swirling synthesisers, the thudding bass and drums all possess a quality that is both new and tribal
- “Lift Off”
At one point the hook was meant to be sung by Bruno Mars, and I’m pretty thankful it wasn’t. No offense to Mars – whose Unorthodox Jukebox era has all been awesome pastiches – but he just wouldn’t have the same empowering quality that Beyonce brings to the track (empowering is pretty much her default setting). But while that hook and beat is great – with grand electronics and orchestras complementing each other – I really don’t get what either of them were going for in the lyrics. Kanye’s are just a little mundane (Why didn’t he relate this back to “Spaceship”? Seems obvious), but in four lines Jay-Z comes across as maudlin and pissy. Oh well, at least it’s mostly the hook.
- “Niggas in Paris”
It’s pretty weird that a track with no chorus, a final beat change and which stops half way through for a sample from Blades of Glory ended up as one these two’s biggest hits, but sometimes the stars align as such. It also helps that it’s a fantastic song, minimal in the icy synths and thudding drums, but that’s all it needed. Jay-Z stands out on the verse front – such as in the great Michael line – but that Blades of Glory cut is quintessential Kanye West, acknowledging the superfluous-ness of many of his lines and embracing them. Oh, and don’t let him into his zone!
- “Otis”
Being a soul sample, this track gets compared to a lot of College Dropout era Kanye West (especially as he was the only producer on this song). But this is a hell a lot barer then any sample on that album, taking Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” – one the greatest songs ever written – and after the introduction just looping a single section. But, hey, if that was all the song needed then it is all it needed. With the song credit the song is clearly a tribute to Otis Redding, but I don’t know where the tribute progression of Black America since the civil rights era ends and theI’ve-got-more-money-than-you-bitches song begins. Still, both have their great lines, with Kanye actually the best here (“sophisticated ignorance/write my curses in cursive”) as well the most bizarre moments (including the twitter rap “Stuntmen”, “tucking their whole summer in”, and the moans and screams).
- “Gotta Have It”
Just as “Otis” was an a tribute to Otis Redding, this is a (somewhat) tribute to James Brown, with at least three samples from the founding funk father. The Neptunes and Kanye do a good job here, with the finishing result being a strange mix of electronic funk and a kind of Eastern Folk. The use of James Brown samples exclusively is also a demonstration of the song’s black empowering, if the song saying “blacks on blacks on blacks” didn’t make that message clear. Though is also lines about coming to collect some money from a family by force. Short song, but it demonstrates the strongest examples of Kanye’s and Jay-Z’s lines interacting and building on top of one another
- “New Day”
Not the first time Kanye would add electronics to a Nina Simone sample and clearly reflect paternal concerns, but it’s definitely the one which is most soothing and calming. This is also an album highlight, which contains some of the most thoughtful lyrics on the entire album. Kanye raps the child he wishes he (then) had, with some funny pointed lines on the “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” incident, his relationship struggles and the ever present spectre of his mother. Jay-Z meanwhile shows off his more vulnerable side, clearly talking about his then on the way child and how hopes to avoid giving that child a hard life even if the family fell apart, like his did.
- “That’s my Bitch”
It’s easier to worry about having to defend this song when this is clearly one of the worst beat on the album too (sorry Q-Tip!). This is an example of Kanye’s crypticness just not working in the context of the song (though I could take a wild guess in what the song’s about). And while Jay-Z has good lines about white being seen as “classically beautiful”, I think calling his wife his bitch takes away from that somewhat. Actually, between the crypticness from Kanye and the overuse of art metaphors from Jay-Z, this song does show the directions each would go for their next solo projects. Justin Vernon’s bridge is a great addition, though, particularly when I always thought until this point it was Charlie Wilson.
- “Welcome to the Jungle”
For all intents and purposes, this is a Jay-Z song, with Kanye relegated to the hooks and bridge. The beat here from Swizz and Kanye isn’t great, with the repetitive of the synth notes an example of the minimalism not working in the album’s favour, even when it layers some other elements on it. Jay-Z’s makes that comparison to him and Axl Rose that I still have trouble parsing (not as obvious as the Sinatra one), but after that his verse is concerned with the sheer amount of death that has happened around him. It’s one of those verses that I really think would have been complimented by a different, probably more mellow, beat.
- “Who Gon Stop Me”
You don’t expect many club bangers with hooks about slavery – the more I think about it, the more of the Yeezus precursors are here – but here we are. The Flux Pavilion sample, like the Daft Punk one for “Stronger”, is so close to the original that I don’t know how this just isn’t just lifting, but I also think this is a beat perfect for rapping to. I wish the rest of the verses were as pointed as that hook, but while Jay-Z stays pretty close with the repurpose of “blacks on blacks” and references to his harsh life, Kanye goes into a more corny mode with lines on Pig Latin and Steve Urkel for no apparent reason (though the “Yeezy was racist” line sounds like it’s about to go close).
- “Murder to Excellence”
So this is the best song on the album, and that is not just because it is the song with the most substance (though that helps). The beat is amazing, an assortment of samples that creates its own identity with the young sounding chorals sounding like children, and the rough edges of the guitar and drum sounds. It is also the ultimate culmination of the “black and black” motif that has been prevalent in the album, with a song that talks about the violence between black communities whilst also critiquing the society which uses that as an excuse to not talk about the systemic problems. Kanye talks about the problems of his home town of Chicago – what he and many would soon label Chiraq – and Jay-Z talks about how people are trapped in those communities and are unable to escape. And when that moves into the more exuberant scenarios latter in the song, it’s meant to show just how little black people actually have wealth (“I’m not talking about rich, I’m talking about wealth”) and how their previous lifestyles are still used against them.
- “Made in America”
Frank Ocean returns to deliver the hook to this song, and he is so good he manages to make the line “sweet baby Jesus” feel like it has intense substance instead of just being completely silly. For my money this is the actual ending of Watch the Throne, as it’s the nice conclusion to the “Murder to Excellence” climax, Frank Ocean bookends the two sides, both its artists are actually giving verses, and the verses relate to how each artist came up in the industry. Kanye talks about his success as a producer before success as an artist (relating them to drugs), while Jay talks about his home life and the hustle in order to where he got today. That along with the Michael Jackson like piano ballad gives a nice ending to a song about rising up to the throne and the high lifestyle in association with black culture…
- “Why I Love You”
…but I guess this is one of those songs that the beat is so good – another liberal lift from an electronic dance track, this time Cassius’ “I Love You So” – that they needed to leave it on the album. Jay-Z gets the majority of the lines, perhaps making the statement that he is the king even in relation to Kanye. The closing coda is all about those who have betrayed him throughout his journey to the top, and while I don’t think it’s a bad song I do think, such as with the next two songs, it would probably benefit from being a single away from the album.
- “Illest Motherfucker Alive”
God that audio gap is a pain in the arse! Anyway, now comes the bonus tracks, and one of the biggest banger beats of the whole project. The synthesiser beats and trap-like drums combine with stranger elements (does one voice sound like an opera singer to anyone else? Would fit with him). The rhymes on the other hand aren’t as great, with Kanye’s letting his corny side out with lines about centrefold, and Jay-Z faring better but lines that could have been suited to a faster beat. But hey, I can’t dislike a song with a Chappelle show reference!
- “H.A.M”
The last song and “H.A.M” are examples of what the lesser version of Watch the Throne could have ended up as, since these two are simply ALL braggadocio. This was my concern when this was the lead single from the album, but thankfully it isn’t on here (officially). I would talk more about this song, but I can’t focus on it too much; I really don’t like this beat, it sounds like someone remixed the theme song of a local news station.
- “ Primetime”
Despite being another we-are-awesome song, this song is a lot better than the other two, in part because of that honky tonk piano-led beat with drums that sound like the hits of whips. Jay-Z’s number led verse is also a lot more inventive and propulsive than the other two verses. I do wonder how Kanye feels about that last line now he is married with children, though?
- “The Joy”
Of all the bonus tracks on this version of Watch the Throne, this is the one I could most see being in the main bulk of the album. It has that mix of Americana and origins of black culture, and in Kanye’s verse reference to his unborn children that he talks about in “New Day”. But I do think it could have benefited without all those moans though; I think if I didn’t get what the song was about just by the title “The Joy”, the cumming face would have given me a gist.
So reviewing Watch the Throne highlighted some more of my problems with the album’s structure, whilst also letting me appreciate some of the black empowering narrative even more. There is substance here – you know, when the title’s of tracks aren’t called “That’s My Bitch” – but would have benefited from a shuffling and cutting of songs to emphasise that narrative. Kanye and Jay-Z will just have to make do with having a series of hits, including some classics that are stilled played in clubs and bars today. So yeah, I’m sure they’re fine.
Reviewing this also let me some of the precursors of what was to come. The minimalist electronic beats of the biggest hits would also extend to Cruel Summer (that we won’t now be doing for review, mostly because they’re not enough Kanye songs, but also I’d rather not be talking about Big Sean and Two Chainz tracks) that added with it a sense of moodiness. But no one expected what a mood Kanye was going to be in for his next release. A monster came alive…
What did you think, though?
Kanye West Album Rankings
- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
- Late Registration
- 808’s and Heartbreak
- Graduation
- The College Dropout
- Watch the Throne