Kanye and Jay put out quite the album last week, breaking records on iTunes and defeating odds not leaking at ALL prior to release. Now if you’re still debating on whether to purchase this one, our guy Relly is here to let you know what you’re missing out on. Check out his review after the jump.
Relly vs Watch The Throne
Before I begin this album review, I just need to warn everybody out there, before you go off and listen to it if you haven’t already. If your gas tank is on E, check engine light is on, or your bank account balance looks like this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯………You will not enjoy Watch The Throne. You shouldn’t even be LOOKING at the Throne. This is hi definition, blu-ray luxury music at it’s finest, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I needed both eyes on the Throne for a full week, before I could give it the review it truly deserves. This is without a doubt, the most anticipated rap album in the last 5 years. 7 months ago on the night of January 11th, 2011, we got the 1st taste of Watch The Throne, with “H.A.M“. With a bunch of mixed reviews of the record, people weren’t really sure what to expect with this project. Remember when Kanye tweeted this nearly a year ago? The fact that an album of this magnitude was originally only supposed to be a 5 track record is crazy. I can’t lie, I didn’t even think this album was ever going to happen when I first heard about it. I brushed that tweet off, thinking a Kanye and Hov project would just be another Detox. Something that would never see the light of day. Well, 1 year later the LP is finally in our iTune libraries and CD changers. And with 2 of the biggest names in rap music today, it’s only natural that we expect a classic. But is it the classic album everybody was sure that we were going to get? Let’s see.
The album has a powerful intro with “No Church In The Wild“. Frank Ocean is the first voice we hear on the album’s opening track. His vocals mesh perfectly with the well crafted beat, provided by 88-Keys. The addition vocals from The-Dream were a great touch on the track as well. Jay-Z loaded up the bases with his verse, then Kanye stepped up to the plate and knocked the song out the park. The picture Ye painted for us with his verse is definitely the highlight of the song. “Sunglasses & Advil, Last Night Was Mad Real”. A line you’ll definitely see in someone’s tweet or Facebook status, every Saturday or Sunday morning. I feel like “Lift Off” was out of place. It ruined the tone the previous track set for the album. Not to mention Jay-Z and Kanye only have 8 bars a piece. This would’ve been a dope song for Beyonce’s album instead. “Niggas In Paris“, the song everybody can’t wait to hear in the club and disrespect couch cushions to. “Gold Bottles, Scold Models, Spillin’ Ace On My Sick J’s”. A fun record full of the classic fly talk we love to hear from these two. Tracks like “Otis” and “Gotta Have It“, probably have the best display of back and forth rap we seen since Jadakiss & Styles P. And the heartfelt message to their unborn sons, over the RZA laced “New Day“, is where you really get that personal and emotional vibe on the album. You can tell by the lines in Hov’s verse, that his father not being around when he grew up still has an affect on him.
On the Swizz Beatz produced “Welcome To The Jungle“, Jay-Z turns it up to a whole new level. The aggression in his bars lets you know he just took off his warm-up suit and threw the powder in the air. At this point of the album, this is when Shit. Gets. Real. If you forgot why Jay-Z is the best rapper alive, he reminds you on “Who Gon Stop Me“. At the 2:14 mark you can hear Hov move Ye out the way like “Fall Back, I’ll take It From Here”. He goes absolutely CRAZY on this record. This is exactly what Kobe in the 4th quarter sounds like. “Murder To Excellence“, “Made It In America“, “Why I Love You“, the whole project comes alive on the 2nd half of the album. These were the type of songs I was waiting to hear.
I feel as though it took too long for the energy to pick up on this LP. On top of that, it seems like there wasn’t enough of actual RAPPING. A little bit after the 2 minute mark on several tracks like, “Gotta Have It“, “Welcome To The Jungle“, “H.A.M” and “Niggas In Paris“, the rapping is over. Too many songs leave you like, “Damn, That’s It?”. A lot of records feel empty, and could’ve definitely used another verse from either of the two. It was like going to a Miami Heat game and Lebron watching Lebron only score 10 points. Your team won, but it wasn’t the show you were expecting. There’s only a few tracks where they both actually go in and rap for the majority of the record. I believe “Murder To Excellence” is the best display of that. The LP simply just needed more FULL records like this. “Primetime” is actually my favorite joint on the album, but I’m really disappointed that they didn’t do more with this. “‘When You Coming Home?’ Thats A Text From My Wife/ I Told Her To Run A Bubble Bath/ And Float In The Mutha Fucka Like A Hovercraft/ And Soak In That Mutha Fucka Till I Call You Back/ ” These might be the dopest, most disrespectful bars I ever heard. And I can’t wait to use this same response on my next girlfriend.
So is this album a classic? I’m sorry to say that it isn’t. Maybe my expectations were too high, and I couldn’t imagine these two together making anything less. But I can honestly say, this is hands down the best album of the year so far. It’s just sad to admit that an album from Kanye West & Jay-Z together, isn’t going to be hard to top.
