“The audience only pays attention as long as you know where you are going.”-Philip Crosby
As the Watch The Throne tour gets going---and Jay Z and Kanye West start doing shows from Canada to Texas to California and New York---we at XXL would like to make sure you know just where Mr. West and Mr. Carter are going.
Jay-Z has been busy.
The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z’s 11th platinum album, came out in September of 2009. Since then, Jay-Z has helped produce a critically acclaimed Broadway show, Fela! and worked with Rihanna, The Edge, and Bono from U2 to create a song for the Hope for Haiti Now telethon and album. Along with Eminem, he hosted the Home and Home Tour in September of last year. He’s published his first book, Decoded (scheduled for rerelease with added content on Tuesday) , launched his first website, LifeandTimes, and has been on the cover of Forbes with American icon Warren Buffet. He's been featured in a few Museum of Modern Art exhibits. Not to mention finding time to at night to get superstar wife Beyonce pregnant with their first child. There’s more, but those feats alone aren’t bad for a couple of years’ work.
Kanye West, on the other hand, is coming off of being on top of the music world in 2010. Last year around this time he released his fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, to critical acclaim. He ended the year with honors from Rolling Stone Magazine for the Album of the Year as well as Song of the Year with "Runaway". The thirty minute film that accompanied the album was heralded as groundbreaking, and it helped garner him the additional honors of MTV’s Hottest M.C. in the game, and the MTV Man of the Year. He debuted his new women’s fashion line, DW Kanye West, on October 1st during Paris Fashion Week, and has signed a few new highly touted artists such as Pusha T and Big Sean onto his music label, G.O.O.D. Music.
In music, no other Hip-Hop act has ever received Album of the Year and Song of the Year honors from Rolling Stone, which usually favors rock over Hip-Hop. Mr. West looks to be the first solo hip-hop act other than Lauryn Hill to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year this upcoming February, and he is one of a short list of rappers who have debuted successful clothing lines (Jay-Z is on that list too, of course).
Mr. Carter was the first Hip-Hop act to ever headline at the legendary Glastonbury Festival. Despite Oasis front man Noel Gallagher denouncing Jay-Z saying "I'm not having Hip-Hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong", he proceeded nevertheless to rock out in front of 150,000 cheering fans. He is the first and only rapper yet to cover Forbes magazine, is chasing the Beatles for the record of most number one albums, and is the first rapper to own a stake in a professional sports franchise, amongst many other firsts.
Together, these two men are doing things that black people were not supposed to do. None of this could have happened just over 40 years ago, when Jay Z was born in 1969 shortly after revolutionaries Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and Fred Hampton were all killed in the struggle for African-American civil rights, none of this could have happened. Jay Z and Kanye West stand as the full fulfillment of what those leaders fought for, and they seem to know and embrace that fact on Watch The Throne. Revolutionaries in their own, right--as they have encountered plenty of controversy in accomplishing what they have--these two superstars stand as symbols of those who came before them, and of what needs to come after. “We gon take it to the moon, take it to the stars………….How many people you know, can ever take it this far”…………..
And we are here to take you deeper into the album.
Style has always been one of the defining components of Kanye West, so it’s no surprise that "Watch The Throne" was developed in such a careful, attentive, meticulous way. If the cultivation of fashion at its highest level can be deemed the making of art, then so can music.
Recorded in lavish places such as the Le Meurice in Paris and the Barford Estate in Sydney, Australia among others (various locations in the United States and Europe), from November 2010 to about June 2011, some great music was being made by Hip-Hop legends Jay Z and Kanye West.
With all of the aforementioned honors and activities under way in their lives, the duo now known as The Throne was hard at work day and night putting together their first piece of music as a group.
Not that the two hadn’t worked together before. Kanye West rose to fame (and helped Jay Z’s fame rise as well) with his production on Jay’s classic, The Blueprint. A few of Jay’s best verses are on Kanye’s first two albums; his verses on Never Let Me Down and the Diamonds Remix are hailed as two classics.
The genius of these two men had never been put together for an entire album though, and when they decided that it was that time, the rest has been the history that we are witnessing before our eyes.
Not to say they did it alone though. Working with Kanye West on the production side were great producers such as 88 Keys, Swizz Beatz, Mike Dean, RZA, The Neptunes and Q-Tip, among others. They kept the guest list short, with only Frank Ocean, Beyonce, Mr. Hudson, and the late great Otis Redding assisting throughout the album.
The album was released on August 8, 2011 without leaking (being the first major album in the digital age to do so). It was received with mixed to positive reviews, with many critics seemingly missing the deeper message and importance of the album, and focusing instead on the braggadocio lyrics that were indeed present, but which do not dominate the album.
To help those critics and others understand the true content of this album, a track-by-track review and album summary is given below.
But first lets look at the 10 minute documentary that Jay and Yeezy released recently, with more footage promised sometime in the future.
No Church In The Wild ft. Frank Ocean- What a fitting guest. Frank Ocean is part of the group OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All), whose atheist, nihilist themes fits right into the times of today. So does this song.
“What’s a king to a God? What’s a God to a non-believer, who don’t believe in, anything?”
With Jay Z referencing Plato’s Euthyphro and satirizing the hypocrisy of everything surrounding us and Kanye giving us his vision of the religion he has created, this seemingly sacrilegious song puts you in the “now”, but gives you no clue as to where the album is going from here. It most definitely supports all the foolish illuminati rumors though. It also sees Jay Z compare himself and Kanye to a legend (this time Jesus Christ himself), a theme that is to be repeated throughout the album. The beat is by 88-Keys and Mike Dean.
Lift Off ft. Beyonce- Epic. Strong Synthesizers mixed with a beautiful, strong chorus sung by Beyonce, Auto-Tune by Kanye and a bit of commentary by Jay. Here The Throne (the official name for the duo) enter another level, another planet, even. Shouts to the late great Dale Earnhardt, referenced by Jay:
“When ya Earn hard as me officially you hit a big wall……5, 4, 3, 2, we need fuel, lift off”
“Now we gon take it to the moon, take it to the stars…….How many people you know, can ever take it this far”, cries Bey beautifully on the hook. One wonders if Jay thought of Biggie’s “You never thought that Hip-Hop would take it this far” line from “Juicy”. Beat by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, and Mike Dean.
Niggas In Paris- A club banger, but yet so much more. Produced by Hit Boy, Kanye, and Mike Dean, this song is one of the jewels of the album. The title itself is just so provocative, so true, so countercultural, so arrogant, but yet so elegant. The lyrics support.
“Ball so hard this shit weird, we ain’t even supposed to be here, ball so hard since we here, it’s only right that we be fair”-Jay
“I got my niggas in Paris, and we goin gorillas, huh!”-Kanye
‘I don’t even know what that means! No one knows what that means. But it’s provocative. It gets the people going!”—Excerpt from Kanye favorite "Blades of Glory" which is played in the song.
Kanye is funny, and he often doesn’t quite mean everything he says. Jay means every single word, and together they claim the throne at the end of the track:
“You are now watching the throne, don’t let me into zone……..I’m definitely in my zone…..”-Jay and Kanye
This song really was recorded in Paris, so the title “Niggas in Paris” is not farfetched. And when you think of the great Kanye line “Even if you in a benz, you still a nigga, in a coupe” from The College Dropout, the concept of black people doing stuff they’re not supposed to do reverberates.
Otis ft. Otis Redding- Jay Z and Kanye West, with this album, set their peers to be mostly legends who are already dead, but who were as great as they were when they were alive. Otis Redding, one of the kings of soul who died in a tragic plane crash in 1967, at only 26 years old, was brought back to life by Mr. West, who produced this track of stunting at its finest.
Kids singing “It makes it easier, easier to bear……..You won’t regret it no, no, no…….Some girls they don’t forget it…….Love, is their whole happiness……..Squeeze her, don’t tease her, never leave her…….” From Otis Redding’s Try a Little Tenderness sounds beautiful. Kids are singing the song of a black legend from the 70s, and because they put his name in the credits, they just might look up Otis Redding and accidentally learn more about where the music they listen to now came from. Reaffirmation of the culture is important, and Jay Z and Kanye West definitely provide that throughout this album. The message is that YES we are black, and YES we are doing these amazing things. So if you’re black, you can do them too!
The lyrics to the song are lavishly boastful, and for good reason. It’s a “celebration of black excellence, if you will”. The fact that these two have hundreds of millions of dollars is, at the end of the day, a fact. And they don’t overlook it.
“Jay is chillin, Ye is chillin, what more can I say? We killin em!”-Kanye
Gotta Have It-Tyler the Creator would listen and say “Swag”. The duo continues to tell their truth of success, on this James Brown sampled, Neptunes and Kanye West assisted beat. It screams with a cool arrogance, as the two trade back in forth in a manner unseen in this generation of rappers. Their chemistry is undeniable, and the wordplay, realness, and swag of the lyrics is on point. Speaking of all the haters in the world today:
“An last party we had, they shut down Prive. Ain’t that where the Heat play? Niggas hate ballas these days. Ain’t that like Lebron James? Ain’t that just like DWade?”---Jay and Kanye trading bars
New Day- The content and beat switch up here, and the album moves into its middle two songs. The first one of these, RZA, Kanye and Mike Dean produced New Day, finds the two rappers introspectively talking about and too their future sons. Kanye has one of the best verses of his career, as he makes sure to say that he’ll never let his son make all the mistakes he did.
“And I’ll never let my son have an ego, he’ll be nice to everyone wherever we go…..I mean I might even make him be Republican, so everybody knows he loves white people”
Jay Z, for his parts, speaks directly to having the moments with his son that his father never had with him:
Jay Z, for his parts, speaks directly to having the moments with his son that his father never had with him:
“It took me 26 years, to find my path, my only job’s to cut the time in half……..So at 13, we’ll have our first drink together, black bar mitzvahs, mazel tov, mobile talk”
The beat rides on for about a minute after the verses are through, allowing one to dwell on thoughts of his or her own.
That’s My Bitch-This Kanye and Q-Tip produced track is a commentary on significant others in the two men’s life, which is a significant part of anyone’s life. Kanye not-so-secretly aims his verse at Amber Rose, who he broke up with in 2010, and Jay delivers an outstanding verse in which he pushes the boundaries for women of color.
"I mean Marilyn Monroe, she's quite nice, but why all the pretty icons, always all white? Put some colored girls in the MOMA..........Half these broads ain't got nothin on Wilona. Don't make me bring Thelma in it, bring Halle, bring Penelope and Salma in it......."
Kanye a lot of times to be caught up inside the system, and Jay is a step outside, looking at it all.
"I mean Marilyn Monroe, she's quite nice, but why all the pretty icons, always all white? Put some colored girls in the MOMA..........Half these broads ain't got nothin on Wilona. Don't make me bring Thelma in it, bring Halle, bring Penelope and Salma in it......."
Kanye a lot of times to be caught up inside the system, and Jay is a step outside, looking at it all.
Speaking of Beyonce, Jay quotes “Picasso was alive, he woulda made her. That’s right nigga, Mona Lisa can’t fade her. I mean Marilyn Monroe, she’s quite nice, but why all the pretty icons always all white?”
Welcome To the Jungle- The album takes a permanent turn here. The songs that follow speak are real, in the sense that they get straight to the heart of anyone who cares to really listen. They speak of what is, and what is not, and what should be.
This Swizz Beatz-produced track is taken over by Jay, who comments on some of the things that have hardened his heart, all a product of living in the jungle:
“My uncle died, my daddy did too, paralyzed by the pain, I can barely move, my nephew gone, my heart is torn, sometimes I look to the sky and ask why I was born……My faith in God, every day is hard, every night is worse, that’s why I pray so hard”
Jay’s ability to relate and portray the basic human emotion of pain and hurt and love, the way he dethrones himself at times to become human like the rest of us, is what makes him so relatable to so many different audiences. Think about it: Jay Z, with all his accomplishments and fame, at times questions why he was born.
Who Gon Stop Me-This song, which was produced by Sak Pase and Kanye West produced song pushes it musically, with a sample from “I Can’t Stop” performed by Flux Pavilion, and a dubstep beat in the second half of the song which Jay flows on non-stop.
The title of the song speaks to the mindset of both Jay Z and Kanye West, with a telling chorus by Kanye:
“This is something like the Holocaust, millions of our people lost, bow our heads and pray to the Lord, till I die, I’ma fuckin ball”
Jay Z’s lyricism and wordplay is crazy on this track, as his display of who he is naturally is just easily better than everyone else, as far as rapping and getting money is concerned:
“I promise I ain’t going nowhere…….Ok here, like a hare, like a rabbit, I like karats, I’m allergic to having bunny ears……..Like broke, like nope, like ha, I ain’t no joke, I can’t be stopped, like nope, like nope”
Cementing themselves as two rappers who have “beat the odds” is not necessarily something that hadn’t already been done, but it’s a great track nonetheless.
Murder to Excellence-Easily the best song on the album. The song is broken up into two parts, one part for “Murder”, and one part for “Excellence”
“The paper read murder, black on black murder again” crones Kanye on the hook of the first part, produced by Swizz Beatz. “Power to the people, when you see me, see you” says Jay, speaking to young black America, encouraging them to take it even farther than he has, as he has helped pave the way for them to do so.
Kanye speaks on tragedy in his city, where “314 soldiers died in Iraq, 509 died in Chicago”
The album’s best line, and one of Jay’s best lines of his career, follows.
“I arrived on the day Fred Hampton died, uh, real niggas just multiply……..and they said by 21 I was supposed to die, so I’m out here celebratin my post demise”.
Jay Z really was born on the day that black revolutionary Fred Hampton died, and Fred Hampton was 21 when this happened. Jay Z believes, and rightfully so, that he carries the torch of the black revolutionaries from the 50’s and 60’s.
As such, the song moves on to its second part, Excellence, and Jay Z and Kanye comment further on the things they have achieved that as black people they weren’t supposed to achieve.
“Domino, domino, only spot a few blacks, the higher I go…….What’s up to Will, shoutout to O, that ain’t enough, we gon need a million more, kick in the door”-Jay Z
That would be Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey, Jay Z’s peers, two black people who have accomplished just as much (well, more for Oprah) than Jay and are respected in much the same manner.
As he says, these three, along with Kanye West and others, are kicking down doors:
“In the past, when you picture events, like a black tie, what’s the last thing you expect to see? Black guys”—Kanye West
Black excellence. Truly yours.
Made In America ft. Frank Ocean-The contrast between this Frank Ocean featured song and the first one is massive; this soulful, spiritual, negro-hymn-like song has a directly opposite feel of the gritty, nihilistic No Church In The Wild, the album’s first track.
Frank Ocean sings “Sweet King Martin, Sweet Queen Coreta, Sweet Brother Malcolm, Sweet Queen Betty, Sweet Mother Mary, Sweet Father Joseph, Sweet Jesus, We made it in America……….Sweet baby Jesus”
Paying tribute to the greats that came before them, Kanye and Jay tell their own familiar stories of how they made it in America, and place themselves on equal footing with those revolutionaries. Kanye’s delivery is nicely crafted:
“Downtown mixing fabrics, tryna find the magic, started a little blog just to get some traffic, Old folks’ll tell you not to play in traffic, A million hits and the web crashes…..Damn”
Kanye was never one to heed to what other people say…………..
Why I Love You ft. Mr. Hudson- To close out the album, Jay takes over. The music, produced by Mike Dean and Kanye West, is reminiscent of an 80’s rock song, with Mr. Hudson crying “Ooo! I love you so! But why I love you, I never know”. The lyrics put Jay at the throne of the Roman Empire, which is the greatest empire in mankind’s history, and he speaks of how people continually attempt to drag him down, but that he will not fold. He will not fall. He is on top and on top he will remain until God takes his soul.
“When the greef is over, the beef is over, I’ll be fly when Easter’s over. I tried to teach niggas how to be kings, and all they ever wanted to be was soldiers. So the love is gone, till blood is drawn, so we no longer wear the same uniform”—Jay Z.
This refusal to lose is something that runs through Jay’s veins and all his albums, and this song is a perfect ending to an album stating who is on top. Jay Z and Kanye West.
“P-p-paranoia, cause the nigga that said he’ll…Blast for ya, is now…Blastin for ya. That’s an assassin for ya, these niggas got a shot they’ll shoot……….Please Lord, forgive him, for these niggas not know what they do (ooh!)”
