Watch the Throne - The Cool Black Review

Watch the Throne album cover

Let me say that it took me a while to even check out this album by rap superstars Jay-Z & Kanye West I WAS NOT crazy (cray?) about the first two released tracks.


Watch the Throne was originally envisioned as a five track ep and then Kanye announced in October 2010 that this was going to be a full album. After I heard those first two singles I thought this album may be a “cash grab” to capitalize on their superstar status and or some sort of vanity project.

Following Kanye's announcement via his Twitter account, "H•A•M" was officially released as a digital download on January 11, 2011. On July 20, 2011 "OTIS" was premiered on Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show and subsequently leaked to the Internet.

As I stated, I wasn’t feeling EITHER of those tracks."H•A•M" was just "W•A•M" and the “W” stands for “Wack”. The only good thing about the song was the hook.

I thought their next single “OTIS” was gotdamn ridiculous when I first heard it. I could not hear what the heck Jay-Z & Kanye were saying over the overpowering Otis Redding vocals. The Otis Redding vocals are still overpowering, but I've gotten used to them & can now decipher what they are rapping about.

Ok that was the first tracks released, but when I finally listened to the album my first impressions were to quote a friend of mine, "not to be funny" this is more of a Kanye West album featuring Jay-Z. Whether by intent or design, Kanye seems to outshine Jay on every song.  Maybe Jay-Z is at the point in his career where he CAN just step back. Let’s also be clear that Kanye’s rap skills have finally arrived. I think what made My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy such a masterpiece (yeah I thought it was masterpiece) was that his rap skills have vastly improved. Dude is like a real MC now.

There are great songs like "No Church in the Wild" (featuring Frank Ocean), That's My Bitch and Made it in America (again featuring Frank Ocean), but my favorite tracks on the album are the back to back tracks "Lift Off" (featuring Beyoncé) produced by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean, with additional production by Q-Tip, Pharrell and Don Jazzy and the track "Niggas in Paris" produced by Hit-Boy, Kanye West, Mike Dean and Anthony Kilhoffer.

Those two songs work seamless together and alone. Perfect for an album. The Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks while may be Deluxe...were no Bonus, including the aforementioned "H•A•M" which still didn't grow on me, but has become tolerable. As for the rest of the album even the tracks that don’t work by themselves work in the complete album.

Having said that, this whole album is HOT! Even though I deplore it, I can admit when I’m wrong. I mean it happens so rarely that it takes me by surprise. LOL.

Below is which of the individual tracks I thought were HOT

1. "No Church in the Wild" (featuring Frank Ocean) HOT
2. "Lift Off" (featuring Beyoncé) HOT
3. "Niggas in Paris" HOT
4. "Otis" (featuring Otis Redding)  HOT
5. "Gotta Have It" warm
6. "New Day"
7. "That’s My Bitch" HOT
8. "Welcome to the Jungle"
9. "Who Gon Stop Me"
10. "Murder to Excellence" HOT
11. "Made in America" (featuring Frank Ocean) HOT
12. "Why I Love You" (featuring Mr Hudson) warm

Deluxe Edition Bonus tracks

13. "Illest Motherfucker Alive"
14. "H•A•M"
15. "Primetime"
16. "The Joy" (featuring Curtis Mayfield)

WATCH THE MULTIMEDIA

Below is a look at some of the inner workings captured during the Watch the Throne recording sessions of Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Watch the Throne Session Photos



Check out the first video from Watch the Throne, OTIS , a video that more than likely got me to like the song more and video that looks like a whole bunch of fun


Check out an excellent short film based on "No Church in the Wild" (featuring Frank Ocean) at our parent blog ‘Nother Brother Entertainment blog here

Read about the video for Niggas in Paris on the ‘Nother Brother Entertainment Facebook page here

Related posts-

For ALL of our posts about Watch the Throne click here

Read Jay-Z and Kanye-A Timeline of Partnership here

For ALL blog posts about Jay-Z click here

For ALL blog posts about Kanye West click here

Short Film featuring Jay-Z & Kanye West music

At our parent blog

Check out and read about the thought provoking short film (pictured below)

featuring the song No Church in the Wild from their joint album Watch the Throne here

Watch the Throne Track-By-Track Breakdown

Def Jam VP of A&R Bu Thiam breaks down the tracks on Watch the Throne with MTV News

By Rob Markman - MTV News
Aug 18 2011 11:50 AM EDT

Since Kanye West first announced Watch the Throne on Twitter in August 2010, the tag-team LP with Jay-Z had been shrouded in mystery. In the months leading up to the album's August 8, 2011 release, details remained sketchy. There was no loaded press run, super radio push, music video or album leaks leading up to the drop. In fact, "H.A.M" and "Otis" were the only songs released to the general public; beyond that there was nothing.

A few were in the know, like Def Jam VP of A&R Bu Thiam who, was there throughout the recording process and helped Hov and Yeezy achieve their sonic goal. "As an A&R it's a process of trying to bring out the artist's creative ideas and their visions," Thiam told MTV News of his general job function in an exclusive interview.

However, when dealing with such accomplished artists like Kanye and Jay, who both have classic works under their belts, Thiam's role wasn't that of a traditional A&R rep. "When it comes to big artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Rihanna, a label can't just assign you to a project like that," he said. "You can't just be like, 'Yo Kanye we're gonna have such and such be your A&R.' He's gonna be like, 'Who the f--- is that? Hell no.' So they have to really rock with you off [general principle] and that's how the whole process goes."

And rock they did. From start to finish, Bu Thiam was there, lending his professional opinions, helping to build tracks and carry them from concept to a fully mixed and mastered product.

There aren't too many people who can break down Watch the Throne Breakdown track-by-track, but then again there aren't many people in the game like Bu Thiam.

 

"No Church in the Wild" featuring Frank Ocean (Produced by 88 Keys, Kanye West and Mike Dean)

"Collectively [working with Frank Ocean] was both of their ideas. It was like, 'Yo this guy is incredible.' They were a fan of him prior and it was like, 'Yo we should fly him to New York to come out here.' [Frank] went in and he just went to work. That kid is incredible, man. That particular record was one take. It just was like, [sings] 'What's a king to a God.' We were actually in the room like, 'Yo he f---ing nailed it.' "

"Lift Off" featuring Beyoncé (Produced by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker and Mike Dean)

" 'Lift Off' was definitely one of the earlier records [recorded for the album]. [Putting the sound effects on the record] is a process because initially a record might just be a beat, a chorus and a hook and as [Kanye] hears things he adds and takes things out."

"N*ggas in Paris" (Produced by Hit-Boy, Kanye West and Mike Dean)

"Them guys, everything they rap about is what they actually go through. So when you hear that album it's real. When Jay says, 'I ball so hard motherf---ers wanna fine me,' they gave him a fine because he took a picture with the college players at the NCAA tournament. So he got a fine for that in real life. So when you hear it you think he's braggin', but no, it's really true."

"Otis" featuring Otis Redding (Produced by Kanye West)

"[Kanye] was late for his flight, we were in the studio working all day and he was late for his flight. As we were leaving he was like, 'Yo hold on for a second.' So he drops his bags and goes to the MPC [beat machine] and his assistant is rushing him and he's just f----ing with [the beat]. What's so crazy is the whole time he's doing that Jay is writing his verses in his head. But Jay is watching the [NBA] playoffs, I think it was the championship; Miami and Dallas. So Jay is watching the playoffs. I'm not even thinking Jay is paying attention to what 'Ye is doing and by the time he is finished it's like 'I invented swag ...' And I'm like, 'What the f--- just happened?' "

"Gotta Have It" (Produced by The Neptunes and Kanye West)

"It's like a beat battle. 'Ye might play something and then Pharrell might play something. They go back and forth man and then they come to a point where they come with one beat."

"New Day" (Produced by Kanye West, RZA and Mike Dean)

"The energy from that was just a situation when 'Ye and Jay were talking about — because both of the guys don't have kids yet. So, it was just a conversation that they were talking about just having kids and how they're gonna raise their kids because of the success that they're having now."

"That's My Bitch" (Produced by Kanye West, Q-Tip and Jeff Bhasker)

"The way Jay writes records you have to really go back and listen to 'em. The way he said 'bitch' and 'dog' and then 'get ya own' like how he used the Big Pun [flow]. So you have to really go back and listen to it three or four times to be able to say anything about a Jay-Z record. Really he's bigging up his wife through the whole verse, but if you're small minded, you won't catch that."

"Welcome to the Jungle" featuring Swizz Beatz (Produced by Swizz Beatz)

"We were at the Mercer [Hotel in New York] and Pharrell came by, Swizz came by, Rihanna came by it was like a room full of superstars. Swizz came through with [shoe designer] Christian Louboutin — the guy! It was really that guy."

"Who Gon Stop Me" (Produced by Sak Pase of the Jugganauts and Kanye West)

"Verse Simmonds actually did the chorus for 'Who Gon Stop Me.' Initially if you hear the second half of that [finished] beat." The [entire] song was [originally just] the second half. The dub step factor came later on in the process. I gotta give [Kanye] all credit for that, when he came back from Paris he was like, 'Yo I added this piece to the beat.' "

"Murder to Excellence" (Produced by Swizz Beatz and S1)

"As much as people may think that Jay talks about money and cars, he's really not that guy. Of course he has it, but his whole mission is to build. He wants to have others join him, he's trying to build black excellence, like the black youth as the next [generation of] executives."

"Made in America" featuring Frank Ocean (Produced by Sak Pase of the Jugganauts)

"That's what Frank is about if you listen to his music you can tell that he's a very smart guy. We were in the studio, Jay wasn't there, 'Ye wasn't there, it was just me and Noah — one of the engineers. [Frank Ocean] was just thinking of different concepts, he was there for like eight hours, then probably like six in the morning he was like 'Sweet baby Jesus.' "

"Why I Love You" featuring Mr Hudson (Produced by Mike Dean and Kanye West)

"There is only so much you can do for a person. Like Jay said [in the song], 'I tried to teach n---as to be kings and all they wanted to be was soldiers.' Like that's a real line, that's how he felt. [Kanye and Jay] do get a lot of criticism in their careers and how they move and I think they just wanted to express it."

Related posts-

Read Jay-Z and Kanye-A Timeline of Partnership here

For ALL blog posts about Jay-Z click here

For ALL blog posts about Kanye West click here

Critics Weigh In On Jay-Z/Kanye Collabo

Read what the critics have to say at The Huffington Post by clicking their logo below



Related posts-

Read Jay-Z and Kanye-A Timeline of Partnership here

For ALL blog posts about Jay-Z click here

For ALL blog posts about Kanye West click here

Jay-Z & Kanye - Cracks in the Throne?

Rap stars 'Throne' by feud

Last Updated: 3:41 AM, August 1, 2011
Posted: 3:13 AM, August 1, 2011

A battle royal has broken out behind the scenes of Jay-Z and Kanye West's new album, "Watch the Throne."

Sources say the rappers -- who call themselves The Throne and are releasing their expected blockbuster collaboration Aug. 8 on iTunes and four days later everywhere else -- are barely speaking to each other as they iron out the details of their upcoming tour.

Live Nation's presale event on Thursday was delayed, but tickets for the tour are slated to go on sale today, with shows at the IZOD Center Sept. 27 and 28.

The sources say West wants flashy concerts with "next-level production," which would cost more than $400,000 per show. Jay-Z is said to be meticulous about costs and already has a larger, long-term advance from Live Nation that he has to pay back.

"Jay-Z can't deal with Kanye," an insider told Page Six. "Jay is a stone-cold businessman. He wants to recoup all of his money from Live Nation. But Kanye wants to upstage rock stars with a blowout show. He doesn't care about costs. He has a lot less to gain from the shows."

West is expected to agree to the conditions of the tour next week, but the business brouhaha between the powerhouse artists might have affected their backstage relationship.

Industry insiders were shocked to see West and Jay-Z perform separately with Young Jeezy last Monday night at the Highline Ballroom. "We were expecting them to come out together to perform a track from the album," a source said. "They didn't even go out together after the show."

"Jay-Z is fed up with West's antics," another source said. "He doesn't even want to be around him." However, the two are expected to perform together at a listening party tonight at The Rose Planetarium in Central Park, according to The Post's Dan Aquilante. A Live Nation rep said, "No comment." The rappers' reps didn't get back to us.


Jay-Z, Kanye party like pals

Last Updated: 12:58 AM, August 3, 2011
Posted: 12:05 AM, August 3, 2011

Jay-Z and Kanye West put aside their creative differences to celebrate the launch of their album, "Watch the Throne," Monday night. West attended the early listening party at the Hayden Planetarium. Then, Beyoncé and her pal Kelly Rowland came out to support Jay at a later listening party for music-industry insiders. Following our story about disagreements over the Live Nation tour, Jay told Hot 97: "Kanye is my brother. Yes, we get on each other's nerves, but that's part of pushing each other." He and West then went on to celebrate at The Darby until the early hours with Fabolous, Nas, Adrienne Bailon, Lindsay Ellingson, Jessica White and a gaggle of models who danced to "Throne" tracks mixed by DJ Jus Ske and DJ Mick Boogie. "There were a lot of girls all over Kanye," our spy said, adding that West was "on his feet all night chatting up models." He was last seen talking with stunning Romanian actress and Victoria's Secret model Alina Puscau.

Related posts-

Read Jay-Z and Kanye-A Timeline of Partnership here

For ALL blog posts about Jay-Z click here

For ALL blog posts about Kanye West click here