Watch The Throne review

[Chase]

from two people I know, they collaborated on it...great review:


1. No Church In the Wild (feat. Frank Ocean)

Swizz: Few albums in recent memory have come with the sort of hype that surrounded Watch the Throne. Crucially, Jay and Kanye went for an unconventional release method that pretty much ensured everyone would not only be hearing the album for the first time at the same time, but also would be essentially counting down to its release. Because of a lack of singles and insight into what to expect, the big question was what WTT would sound like…were we going to be getting an extension of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, last year’s classic Kanye West album with its dark, expansive, progressive production style, or would we essentially be getting The Blueprint 4, a continuation of Jay-Z’s conventional, commercially accessible and pop-friendly eleventh studio album from 2009? Or was the answer somewhere in between? As it turns out, the answer lies far closer to MBDTF than it does BP3, but in reality Watch the Throne is its very own entity that cannot necessarily be compared to either one of them. This is apparent from the opening track, No Church In the Wild, which maintains the cold feel of much of MBDTF but also feels far less theatrical and intricate. Jay takes the lead with a strikingly visual verse (“Tears on the mausoleum floor/Blood stains the Coliseum doors”) using a flow not unlike Pray, the opening song from 2007’s American Gangster. Kanye’s verse is just as strong; not quite as sophisticated as Jay’s (talk about the Holy Trinity vs. coke, threesomes, and hangovers) but equally effective, and it is given extra power because it’s introduced by a perfect, understated bridge by The-Dream (his last little subdued shriek right before Kanye starts rapping is one of my favorite small moments on the album). Let’s not forget Frank Ocean’s hook, up there with the very best on the album. An exceptional opening track. 10/10

WPG: I simply don't think a better or more fitting opening track could have been conceived. Anyone expecting a boom bap album is clinically insane, and this is indicative and encouraging: the beat is fleshed out, ambitious and enrapturing without feeling overproduced. I think the strength of this song form a lyrical perspective is that once the initial premise of the song is established, Jay and Yeezy don't attempt to write identical verses. Is it just me, or is the sunglasses and Advil line the most thrillingly vintage-Kanye thing on the album? There's an eerie atmospheric thing going on here, and sets up the rest of the album beautifully. Frank Ocean is perfect for these type of hooks because unlike many modern pop-R&B singers, he has crystal clear diction and an air of toughness to his voice (no homo). Fantastic opener. 10/10

2. Lift Off (feat. Beyoncé)

Swizz: Triumphant and jubilant, Lift Off feels as if it’s a long-lost track from Graduation that’s been given to Beyonce. That second part is why Lift Off has probably got the worst reception of any track on Watch the Throne; her presence, while impressive, is actually surprisingly overpowering, muting the sort of chemistry Kanye and Jay so effortlessly show on every other track. Part of that is their own fault, though; Kanye sets aside rapping in favor of some of the autotuned warbling he did on 808s, and Jay-Z shows up for (literally, I just checked this) all of FIFTEEN SECONDS. Is that even the length of Fergie’s bit from All of the Lights? The fucking lift-off countdown at the end of the song is longer than Jay’s “verse” which, length aside, is pretty handily his most flaccid on the entire album (that word choice was absolutely intentional by the way). Complaints about Jay and Kanye’s rapping aside, we have some really good stuff from Beyonce here, and I love Kanye’s “Know me by now” bridge after the two-minute mark, so damn catchy, and a clear reminder of just how good he can be melodically. Highlight of the song: post-countdown, that outro, with its echoey, warped Beyonce vocals and changes in the beat. Brilliant moment. 7.5/10

WPG: Swizz has expressed disappointment in the fact that this feels largely like a Beyonce song, and he's completely right. What's more than that is the fact that Kanye and Jay basically mumble their verses. They don't really say anything at all on the song, as far as we can tell. It's a shame because the hook and beat are precisely what's called for for this type of song, and Kanye even seemed to have a nice melody going during the first verse. I'm sort of perplexed as to how this is the final version. For two perfectionists putting together what turned out to be a terrific record, it seems inexplicable that this would slip through the cracks. It's certainly not offensively bad, but No Church renders this track unnecessary in the scope of the album as a whole, and it doesn't really make a strong case for itself. 6/10

3. Niggas In Paris

WPG: This seems to be a consensus favorite so far, and while I don't like it as much as some on the board clearly do, I think it's great and even a potential classic. I think it's really refreshing that they weren't scared to try an instrumental like this. As stupid as I may have been, I was a little worried Kanye would try to box himself into a specific zone if he psyched himself out that he was making a rap album with Jay-Z. Luckily, that didn't happen. The Blades of Glory samples are a nice touch. Kanye's additions to the English language continue with 'cray', which is unexplainably fantastic. Kanye's verse begins exactly how you would expect a Kanye verse on "Niggas In Paris" to begin - and that's a good thing. The beat change up elevates the final product, without a doubt. 9.5/10

Swizz: There can be something endearing about dumb rap music. It can be incredibly bad, of course; countless artists have bragged about how rich they are and how many hoes they fucked in their mansion last week after they got done killing every individual nigga who fronted on them, and have come up artistically bankrupt. But when it’s done with the right production, and the right balance of swagger and tongue-in-cheek humor, nothing could be more entertaining. It’s rarely been executed as hilariously and as weirdly as Jay and Kanye managed to with Niggas In Paris. Jay delivers one of those effortless verses of his where you remember firstly that he can do this shit in his sleep, and secondly that he has a far better life than any of us could ever hope to achieve, deal with it. His verse comes to an end and makes way for what is easily the year’s most quotable hook (“That shit cray” isn’t going away anytime soon, at least in my day-to-day vocabulary) before we hear from Kanye, who is in full stupid mode (intentionally, of course; similar to what he did in H•A•M, which I’ll discuss later). Then there’s that beat change around 2:43 (I think my jaw may have dropped the first time I heard it) to make way for a phenomenal outro to a song that was already incredibly entertaining in the first place but just had to get Kanye’d into perfection. This one seems to be a favorite of everyone’s for damn good reason. 10/10

4. Otis (feat. Otis Redding)

WPG: Okay, to be honest, I fucking love this song. Everything about it is how we envisioned Watch The Throne from the beginning - the soul sample (albeit not in a conventional way), the braggadocio, the humor, the charisma. I even love the screaming at the end. This has gotten overlooked in the aftermath of the album's release due to both its previous release and its relative underproduction in the face of some of these other beats, but I believe this will stand as one of the most memorable rap songs of this decade. There's nothing groundbreaking about it, Jay and Kanye simply do what many rappers - and they themselves - have been doing for years. 10/10

Swizz: The somewhat polarized initial reaction to Otis is still one of the most bizarre things I’ve witnessed in music this year. It’s basically perfect and one of the most purely entertaining things on here. The chemistry on display between Jay and Kanye is undeniable; both of them deliver multiple quotables; the beat is classic Kanye. True, it doesn’t go as far as we’re now used to him going in this MBDTF era, but it doesn’t need to; simplicity is sort of the point. He takes a few relatively minor, unassuming moments from Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness”, moments that most producers probably would not have thought to choose, and structures the entire song around them as if it was always meant to be that way. Great as the beat is, and it IS (Otis getting credit as a feature actually somehow feels right, as he’s such a crucial component to the song’s sound), this song is all about Kanye and Jay, and few would deny that they deliver (and while they’re both good, this is one of the times on the album that I feel pretty confident that Kanye out-rapped Jay). Also worth mentioning: rare as it is in 2011, Otis has one of those videos, simple as though it may be, that definitely makes the song even better. 10/10

5. Gotta Have It

WPG: Remember how I was talking about braggadocio? Well, these niggas just made me wanna kill myself In some ways, this song parallels Otis - the previous track was arrogant rap in the style of old, while this is essentially the same thing updated for the new decade. The use of vocal samples on the album to this point is already quite impressive. There's not really a lot to analyze here, as the verses are pretty self explanatory (while still having replay value) and the beat is great without being complex. Jay - I think it was Jay, wasn't it? - said that they actually pared down the album because it became too sonically ambitious and unwieldy. I would bet any amount of money that these two tracks were from later, more focused sessions. 9.5/10

Swizz: The opening seconds of this song actually were something of an epiphany for me; I had totally forgotten that there was a time when I enjoyed songs by the Neptunes. Contrary to my recent beliefs, they are indeed capable of crafting good beats, and Gotta Have It proves that they still have it in them. Most notably dominated by exotic sounding female background vocals and a funk-soaked James Brown sample, the Gotta Have It beat provides a hypnotizing backdrop for another even tighter back-and-forth Otis-type track. Again, anyone who says Kanye and Jay do not have chemistry needs to look no further than their seamless verses together here. My only complaint (I probably should have mentioned this with Otis as well): far too short. 9/10

6. New Day

Swizz: One worry about a collaborative album from Kanye and Jay-Z, particularly after the release of H•A•M and Otis, was that they would stick to predictable, unserious subject matter, which would ultimately lead to a two-dimensional album with very little replay value. I never really believed that, but for anyone who did, their fears were calmed the moment Kanye started rapping the first verse of New Day. Over a RZA and Kanye beat with solemn pianos and a haunting autotuned Nina Simone sample, Kanye and Jay deliver somber verses about the lives their hypothetical future children might lead, what effect their own mistakes of the past will have on their kids, and what they will do to prevent them from making the same mistakes that they did. It’s a stark juxtaposition to, say, Niggas In Paris, but it doesn’t even remotely feel out-of-place on the album; much of the lyrical content on here deals not only with the idea of being on top (that Throne they speak of), but also the problems and the vulnerabilities and the flaws that come from being on top. And this song is as direct and deep a reflection as one could possibly have on that: here I am, rich and famous, but where did I fuck up along the way and how am I going to pay for it in my future? For Kanye, it’s the perception (that he himself has helped to create) that he’s a stubborn, arrogant racist, and for Jay it’s inescapable scrutiny from the press, his mistakes from years past, and his background of coming from a broken home. All of which will stick with them and could shape the lives of their future sons or daughters. The concept feels fully realized and genuine, unquestionably avoiding the pitfalls of being the forced and obligatory serious track crafted merely to give a project artistic credibility (see: Lighters, Hell: The Sequel). It helps that neither artist comes off as whining, as they could easily have done (I’m looking at you, Kanye); they both seem to blame themselves to an extent, rather than entirely painting themselves as victims. The track comes to a close with a mournful MBDTF-esque solo that can only be described as a guitar gently weeping. I’ve argued that the beat might be a TAD overproduced, but it’s still pretty great anyway. This isn’t one of my most played tracks necessarily, but there’s no question in my mind that it’s one of the best, particularly from a lyrical standpoint. 9.5/10

WPG: I have to echo Swizz once again - this is the only track that I could argue is overproduced. Ironically, RZA did the beat, which in and of itself is pretty great. I just think the vocal sample was used too much and reflected to a degree that's a little ridiculous. This song is in stark contrast to the last four tracks. Certainly the deepest on the album, New Day's musings to The Throne's () hypothetical sons come off as great reflections of the would-be fathers. This is even more true in Kanye's verse - he's obviously looking at a laundry list of his regrets and weaknesses. Jay takes a slightly different approach, trying to impart on his son wisdom Jay wishes he could have picked up from his own absent father. I think these verses are my favorite from each rapper on the album. Fantastic song. 10/10

[Chase]

7. That's My Bitch

WPG: When this leaked, I didn't have an opinion on it...because I didn't listen to it. Frankly, I dismissed it because it was called "That's My Bitch" and I'm a pretentious indie asshole. I started listening to the leaked version about a month before Watch The Throne dropped (and niggas killed theyselves). It quickly became one of my favorite Ye/Jay songs. A little part of me wishes they kept Kanye's reference vocals (read: mumbling) at the beginning a la Illest Motherfucker Alive, but it's probably good they finished it. The other changes (a more focused restructuring of the beat and some revamping of Jay's verse) made the song sound more fine tuned. "I paid for them titties, get your own/It ain't safe in the city, watch the throne" is one of the most Kanye-tastic opening couplets ever. I feel like this song is destined to be cast aside because its topic is a little inconsequential and it doesn't hit you over the head like some other beats on the album, but Kanye and Q Tip make a really fun track that still has a lot of musical integrity. If you told me Jay would be rapping about how under-represented black women are in American conceptions of beauty I probably would have shot myself in the face, but it turned out beautifully. This brings me to a tangential point: one of the reviews of a WTT listening session suggested that in some ways the album serves as a story of the black experience in America. In a weird way, I feel that during Jay's verse on this song. Again, on paper it sounds insufferably corny to draw cultural analysis from a fun song called "That's My Bitch", but it works without being corny. This'll be unappreciated, but I think it's a necessary piece of the record. 9.5/10

Swizz: Refusing to download this song because I expected it to be on the album: great decision on my part, because right now it’s one of my favorites. The beat, from Kanye and Q-Tip, is refreshingly old school, made purely of infectious kinetic energy, and Kanye and Jay more than do it justice. The hook is insanely catchy, and probably would’ve been ripe for a more mainstream guaranteed hit. Originally intended for the MBDTF sessions (which explains Kanye’s two verses versus Jay’s one), it pretty clearly works better in this particular context. Oh yeah, before I forget: Kanye and Jay are separated by an out-of-nowhere, inspired Bon Iver bridge that shouldn’t fit the song but absolutely does. All three verses, though, are up there with the most enjoyable on the album, as both Kanye and Jay are clearly having a good time and flow pretty effortlessly. Not a bad thing to say about this one, I’m really pleased it made the album. 10/10

8. Welcome To the Jungle

Swizz: So when you see Swizz Beatz pop up on a tracklist, there are immediately two things you have to worry about. The first is that he’s produced an utterly terrible beat. The second, more troublesome concern is that we’re going to hear his voice. I assumed from the start that with Watch the Throne, the first issue would not be a problem; surely with someone like Kanye putting his name on a project, he will accept nothing but quality production. And I was correct. Welcome To the Jungle sounds a bit like a typical Swizz Beatz track, except better; it’s helped a lot by those paranoid-sounding strings that come in at the 30-second mark. As for that second worry…it seemed like a toss-up, and unfortunately for those of us with ears, Swizz Beatz DOES open that fucking mouth of his on this song for a relatively annoying hook (complete with constipated-sounding “GOD-DAHMIT” adlib). With a Kanye appearance that doesn’t even exceed Jay’s part on Lift Off, the song rests squarely on Jay’s shoulders, and he delivers; he sounds hungrier and more tortured than almost anywhere else on the album, delivering an undeniably emotional and effective verse. Unfortunately, the song is so short that it sort of feels inconsequential and isn’t able to have the impact that it could have had if it was more fleshed out, with another verse or two in there. A good song but a minor one. 7/10

WPG: I'm not a violent person. I'm not an activist or anything - I signed up for a greenpeace mailing list after being pressured into it but used a fake email. I agree with the sentiments of Murder to Excellence. But I hope Swizz Beatz gets his fucking voicebox ripped out through his urethra. Why would anyone ever want to hear that man speak again? Fuck. Well, his beat here isn't bad, but it is a tad repetitive. It comes off (to me, at least) as one of the least exciting instrumentals on the album, but that's at least partially a testament to how great the soundscape is. In fact, it's good in a subtle way - the seeming discord between the (reasonably generic) beat Kanye is pretty good, especially on that little two bar intro, but Jay positively steals this one. "Where the fuck is the press?/Either they know or don't care, I'm fucking depressed" is an incredibly poignant look at fame. A few people (maybe just the indie rappers on my twitter feed) have suggested the album should have been called "Watch The Rich Guys". Well, yeah, it should have. But that's not an inherently bad thing. First, we get rich guy rap done right - on Otis, Niggas In Paris, shit, most of the record - and we get the consequences of vast fame and wealth on Welcome To The Jungle, New Day, No Church, etc. While it didn't hit me as hard as some others on my first few listens (and still isn't one of my favorite tracks), I would never consider cutting it, and I think it exceeded every expectation I had for it and becomes more than the sum of its parts. 9/10


9. Who Gon Stop Me

WPG: I'm conflicted as to how I feel about this one. The beat drop certainly catches your ear, and Kanye comparing his dubstep rap song to the Holocaust is fucking great, but I don't know that the song really goes anywhere. I know the defensive reaction to that accusation is that this is a song that doesn't really NEED to go anywhere, but these two have shown time and time again (already on this album with...well, all the tracks except No Church and New Day so far lol) that even their superficial raps are super official. This is by NO means a bad song, but the specter of Illest Motherfucker Alive hanging over the album brings into question every track that is anything less than perfect. One of the saving graces is certainly "your weed purple, MY MONEY PURPLE". Also, Jay's hook segues perfectly into the next song; something that I was going to write about without any prompting from x326 . 7.5/10

Swizz: Probably the biggest disagreement me and WPG are going to have in this entire review. Who Gon Stop Me is an absolute monster of a song, an energetic and vital fusion of dubstep and hip-hop so intense that it took me a few listens to wrap my head around it. Like the ecstasy-popping club rat cousin of Gone, Who Gon Stop Me’s beat is a constantly morphing, unpredictable work of art. If there’s any justice in this world (prediction: there isn’t), by this time next month it’ll be shutting down every club in America. Kanye is probably responsible for the brilliance in the production, and he also does some great stuff on this track vocally/lyrically (the ‘racist’ line, the Holocaust bit, ideal “HEHH” use), but Jay unquestionably tears the track to shreds in a way Kanye doesn’t even try to duplicate. His urgency (equal to Welcome To the Jungle, but with more swag and less depression) lends an intensity to the track that perfectly matches its hyperactive and thrilling production. Certainly an album highlight for me…this is why I like Kanye in the first place: willingness to try something different, and ability to knock it out of the park. And with Jay here to rap like he just rapped, the ending result is all the more impressive. 10/10

10. Murder To Excellence

WPG: I love rap and I love politics, but I usually cringe when they mix. The first half of this track works because Jay and Kanye aren't playing the race card and claiming black people are all victims. Rather, it's a call for blacks to stop killing other blacks. It works. I don't know if the media's going to try to blow it up, but I really didin't find Kanye's Iraq/Chicago bar that inflammatory. I liked the callback to Lucifer. Actually, Kanye and Jay attack this from slightly different intellectual angles and it makes for a more compelling track than I expected. Honestly, I feel like superstar rappers often make songs like this as an obligatory nod to critics and intellectuals and as a plea for credibility, but I really felt like they each had something to say on the first part of the song. As for the second half, I think it works just as well. Remember what I was saying about the album as a narrative of the black experience in America? Well, just as Ye and Hova took a balanced approach to the first beat on this track, they decided to paint a full picture of their lives. So for those who were unclear, no, Kanye West is not still on food stamps. Great song, good way to approach both topics. 9.5/10

Swizz: Aaaaaand Swizz Beatz redeems himself. Over a beat (co-produced by Swizz and S1) comprised of some hypnotic tribal chanting somewhat reminiscent of Power (in its first half, anyway), Kanye and Jay deliver the album’s most politically charged lyrics. And they’re both at their absolute best; both sound as sharp as they do anywhere else on the album, with strong delivery and even stronger lyrics, and crucially, they manage to execute some sensitive subject matter without mishandling it (as many artists probably would have done). The song’s concept is executed better than it sounds when I articulate it this way, but the transition (both lyrically and instrumentally) from ‘Murder’ to ‘Excellence’, from a frustrated examination of urban violence to a celebration of two people from an urban background who avoided such pitfalls, is absolutely seamless and perfect. Phenomenal song and definitely an album highlight for me. 10/10

11. Made In America (feat. Frank Ocean)

WPG: This song seems to be the least favorite among SL members (with the possible exception being Lift Off). I think it's a great record that paints Kanye in a really endearing light. He seems genuinely grateful for the position he's in. It reminds me of his tweet from the very beginning of the WTT sessions when he said "it just hit me that I'm actually doing a rap album with Jay-Z". I'm gonna regret saying this lol, but I get chills when he says "uptown mixing fabric trying to find the magic". I can't relate to that at all - I don't have the money to shop like Kanye does and wouldn't really be interested in doing so anyway, but it feels so earnest that I can't help but get excited. Jay's verse is pretty much exactly what you would expect from him on a song called "Made In America", and that's not a bad thing. Why are people complaining about Frank Ocean's hook here? I think it fits the song perfectly, and the beat (with those vintage Kanye drums) sounds perfect to me. I love this record, I can't find any holes in it. An album highlight without a doubt. 10/10


Swizz: Something about this song, I can’t put my finger on it…there’s just a ceiling for my enjoyment of it. I cannot put it on the same level as some of my other favorites from the album. I think it’s because the hook, as good as Frank Ocean is, just strikes me as unnecessarily cloying. The dip into sentimentality is particularly surprising since it was so decisively avoided earlier in the album on New Day (and is avoided once again in the closing track)…it just doesn’t strike the right tone for me. I was pretty thrilled with Kanye’s verse, admittedly; it’s probably one of his best on the whole album, and it strikes a tone reminiscent to The College Dropout for me (WPG did a good job touching on what is right with it). Really like the “high on my own supply” part; the South Park reference is less successful. Jay, on the other hand, disappointed me here; after Kanye’s verse I expected his A-game, but I don’t really think he brought it. It feels more like BP3-era serious Jay, the type of thing we heard from him on, say, Young Forever—serious subject matter but sort of lazy and empty in execution (although I did like the first part about his “piece of apple pie”). The song is fine, it’s inoffensive, hell it's even GOOD…I just don’t love it like I love much of the rest of the album for some reason. 7/10

12. Why I Love You (feat. Mr. Hudson)

WPG: Forever Young didn't work. The sample was cheesy and Jay didn't do anything compelling to update it or make it his own record. This song went the exact opposite way. The sample is flipped to perfection, and with enough sense of urgency that it doesn't just avoid being corny - it makes you forget the possibility all together. Jay feels as invigorated as anything he's done since the Black Album. His verses on here are flawless, and Kanye's brief contributions are done properly. That's the only puzzling thing - why would they make what is essentially a solo Jay-Z song the album closer? Either way, it's 10/10, without a doubt.

Swizz: As soon as I heard this sample, I knew the song was going to deliver. It didn’t even remotely disappoint. How good is that hook, seriously? If there’s anything disappointing about the track, it’s that it’s essentially a Jay-Z solo song that almost certainly could’ve used more Kanye, but Jay’s performance is so commanding (probably his best on the album—have I said that too many times?) that in the end I didn’t even mind. This is yet another perfect counterargument to the small-minded idiots claiming Watch the Throne doesn’t have substance; Jay tackles a subject that clearly matters a lot to him (and can be viewed universally as well) and makes every last word count—has Jay shown more passion, post-retirement, than what you hear at the beginning of the second verse (“Showed love to you niggas, you RIPPED out my heart and then you stepped on it”)? It’s at this point that we finally start to hear Kanye in this song at all, and the rest of the song starts to incorporate him more and more by the moment, until Jay and Ye are finishing each other’s sentences and we’re breathlessly hanging on their every single word…until the album ends suddenly, unexpectedly, out of nowhere, Sopranos-style. It’s a flawlessly executed finale to one of the year’s best albums. 10/10

[Chase]

guess I can't really blame anyone for not wanting to read the whole thing lol

[Jackwc]

Half of the review for one song was longer than average review for an entire album.
_________________
A dick that's bigger than the sun.

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[jbarajas]

wow... talk about being biased in a review..... i dont want to listen to that trash anymore... they gave every song a 10