"Watch The Throne" by Jay-Z & Kanye West

Watch The Throne by Jay-Z & Kanye West
was released on August 8th, 2011

After Kanye West stormed back into the limelight once again back in 2010 by introducing G.O.O.D Fridays to the world and making his Twitter presence do all of his hyping for him, Kanye was bound and determined to reach a level of cultural excellence that many couldn't dream of achieving.  Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was deemed one of the best albums of 2010, receiving a coveted perfect 10 from Pitchfork and being hailed as an instant classic by many, indie mindset and mainstream alike.  All of the Jay-Z/Kanye collaborations in the past have been stellar whether it be production or rapping with one another, but with all of the hype behind Watch The Throne, the two's new collaborative effort, and seeing these two hip-hop titans finally meet for an album, it all just feels incredibly underwhelming.  While the production shines through, to no surprise, the lyrics tend to mostly fall flat with the exception of a few standout tracks.  It feels like Kanye and Jay have fallen into the habit of rapping more about their money and lavish lifestyles than bringing up the emotional grit and intellect that got them to their level in the first place.

The production on this album is stellar, make no mistake.  Kanye is and always has been one of the best in the industry when it comes to producing an album and I see no change in that in the near future.  I'll admit that after hearing the Lex Luger produced "H.A.M" I was hesitant of the "Watch The Throne" project, mainly because it all felt so contrived to hear a Lex Luger beat on a Kanye/Jay album.  It seems like it also led to a downgrading of lyricism for the songs that fell into these categories, actually for most of the album.  Tracks like "Illest Motherfucker Alive" are almost cringe-worthy at times, the opening lines of "I need a slow-motion video right now/'Cause I'm moving in slow-motion" sloppily drawled out by West are off putting.  He then raps off a list of famous Russel's and talks about "zero, zero, zero, zero, a whole lot of 0's".  The whole album isn't this bleak though, so don't count it out from off the gate.  Opening track "No Church In The Wild" features Odd Future sensation Frank Ocean singing the chorus and Jay-Z opening the album by rapping in prime form, standing out with lines like "Jesus was a carpenter/Yeezy made beats" showing the grandiose mindset of this whole project within a line.  Kanye immediately follows Jay-Z by rapping about cocaine, threesomes, and weed.  It's a little offputting to hear the man who once asked if "Anybody makes real shit anymore" but then you get to hear glimpses of the past and shimmers of light shining through with tracks like "New Day", "Murder To Excellence", and "Made In America".