By Osagie Alonge
The musical combination of Jay Z and Kanye West has always sounded heavenly. Right from Kanye’s first ever production for Sean Carter on the 2000 album ‘Dynasty’ to his brilliant musical craftsmanship on Jay Z’s follow up classic ‘The Blueprint’, Kanye and Jay Z’s seamless blend has stood out making us want an exclusive project from the producer/rapper and his ‘big brother’.
After eleven years, Kanye and Jay have finally satisfied us with ‘Watch The Throne’. The album is not necessarily a product of the long years spent together crafting music but should be looked as a new appointment they both have carried upon their shoulders. A lot has happened since 2000; Kanye who started out as a beat maker added rapping to his C.V and Jay Z retired, came back and turned ‘god’ on us.
The singles off ‘Watch The Throne’; ‘H.A.M and ‘Otis’ might have kept us in a bit of a doubt whether the Brooklyn MC and the Chicago bred could actually pull this off but the rest of album moves completely away from it. The first track ‘No church in the wild’ sets off a chain reaction which rides throughout the LP. As guest act Frank Ocean’s numb yet soothing voice bounces on the ghost town-themed beat, Jay Z and Kanye waste no time in delivering what might probably be their best verses off the album.
‘Lift off’ keeps the energy going, Beyonce ups the ante over a well cooked beat. Having over five gifted producers including Don Jazzy, Kanye and Q-Tip however overshadows whatever vocals that came with the cut; even Bey’s lyrics are not memorable, and Jigga only managed to drop 8 bars.
On ‘Otis’, Jay and ‘Ye however make up for their flaws on ‘Lift Off’ as they try to overdo themselves at every four-bar interval. Over the late Otis Redding chopped and looped sample, Kanye rhymes ‘Luxury rap, the Hermes of verses/Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive’ while Jay Z goes ‘Political refugee, asylum can be purchased/Uh, everything’s for sale, I got 5 passports I’m never going to jail’. You could tell the confidence level of both rappers had skyrocketed while writing these verses.
The braggadocios rap continues on ‘Ni***s in Paris’ and the disappointing Swizz beatz-produced ‘Welcome to the jungle’ so when they switch to Wutang beat maestro RZA’s ‘New Day’, even Kanye and Jay Z acknowledge the masterpiece by starting their verses with the line ‘Me and the RZA connect’. In a sober and reflective tone, both rappers recall sad happenings of the past and hope for a better day over a Nina Simone sample. ‘Made in America’ follows suit as the laid back joint sees Kanye and Jay Z talk about their pains and gains in the ‘game’ over another A-plus delivery.
They aren’t done bragging as ‘that’s My B***h’ comes on with the vintage Kanye West drum loops and multiple background choir-like vocals – very reminiscent of Kanye’s debut ‘Collegue Dropout’.
Conclusively, the beats and originality of sound are the things that grab our attention on ‘Watch The Throne’. The chemistry between both rappers is exceptional and even though the lyricism scores low, the theme of the album stays intact from start to the end, Kanye and Jay Z don’t go out of context. We are happy both rappers finally made a record.
Beats: 4/5
Lyrics: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Album Score: 3.5/5
2 comments
poor review, Beyonce ‘s lyrics on the chorus wasnt memorable??? have u even listened to the album very well??/ no mention of ‘illest motherfucker alive” and d joint wit mr hudson where they were talking to Beans…..
Mehhhn, do ur home work. album is a 21st century classic 4.5 /5
peter u spoke well. this guy don’t know what it takes to do a song, not to talk of an album