Watch the Throne by Jay-Z and Kanye West
Human beings in a mob
What's a mob to a king?
What's a king to a God?
What's a God to a non-believer
Who don't believe in anything?
Will he make it out alive?
Alright, alright
No church in the wild
- Jay-Z, Kanye West ft. Frank Ocean, “No Church In The Wild”
When looking at the above-mentioned lyrics, philosophical questions could be brought up in regards to life, beliefs, and human nature which gives food for thought to some people who listen to songs and give them time to think and reflect, causing them to possibly consider their humanity and understand others humanity as well. This song can be found on the album that I am reviewing this month.
This month I was given the opportunity to review an album by Jay-Z and Kanye West called Watch the Throne which was released August 8th, 2011. I think that, between Jay-Z and Kanye, there are only a handful of songs that are worth the hype or time to listen to.
Both Jay-Z and Kanye West seem to have stuck-up or egotistical personalities throughout the entire album, heavily implied in the chosen album cover. The cover looks extremely shiny and gold. Generally, gold can be associated with good things such as success, extravagance, wealth, or royalty. And the word throne could be associated with a king or queen or being looked up to and at the top. Personally, I find that it looks tacky and gaudy. Another implied reason that lead me to the final opinion that they are stuck up or egotistical was their song “Illest Motherf**ker Alive”. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be successful or thinking that you are the illest but to constantly be bragging about it is a turn-off to a person’s character and, in my opinion, is what throws me off from listening to most Kanye and Jay-Z songs.
The album does have some positive points though such as; a nice mix of songs with catchy beats and some cool collabs such as in the song '“Lift Off” with Beyoncé. The songs also gave accounts of life that a person of color experiences within society and the narrow view they are molded into.
Some songs that I enjoyed on the album were; “No Church In The Wild”, “Lift Off”, “Murder to Excellence”. Others were certainly not enjoyable, but not because of Jay-Z. It’s Kanye’s rapping that remains subpar in most of the project. The production is solid, but whenever he raps, it sounds as if he’s piggybacking off of what Jay-Z had just said, never really adding to the project or to an overall theme to the project, if there is any past the “I’m richer than you” trope.
Overall the album gets a 4.5/10 rating. Jay-Z and Kanye made an okay album and if it was playing I wouldn’t ask for it to be turned off right away but would ask for a switch up if the opportunity to ask arises.