After much anticipation, Kanye West and Jay-Z have finally released Watch the Throne to the public. The crew had kept the project under wraps for the most part, ensuring that it did not leak. The only information leaked about the album came from the artists themselves. Maybe other artists and labels can take a major page from their book in keeping an album leak from happening.
Watch the Throne Contributing Artists
The only three to feature on the album in a major part vocally were Mr. Hudson, Beyonce, and newcomer Frank Ocean. There are also a few hidden familiar voices in the album including The-Dream, La Roux, and Will Ferrell. You have to listen closely for these voices.
There are many more producers featured on this album than artists. Contributing the most on production besides Kanye was producer Mike Dean, who is more known for his work with Southern artists like UGK and Geto Boys. Also featuring on production was Swizz Beats, The Neptunes, S1, and RZA among others. From first listen, this is the album that both artists wanted to make a statement on.
Album Intro
The album begins with a bit of a staggered tone with two songs meant to increase excitement kind of stepping on each other. The very first song begins with Frank Ocean singing “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 nonbeliever who don’t believe in anything?” This song, “No Church in the Wild,” is seemingly a statement about life and the things we pursue that become the things we worship as religion.
The song that follows this one is on a much more triumphant note. “Lift Off” features Beyonce and sounds like it should have been the first song on the album. The song gives you a preview of their expectations for the project and even includes a NASA countdown. If that doesn’t sound like an opening, nothing else does.
Style
One of the major features on this album that makes it different than other albums of the individual artists is their musical style. While the album does feature soulful sounds like “Otis” and “Murder to Excellence,” it features a lot of songs inspired by the Southern music scene such as “Niggas in Paris” and “Gotta Have It.” This slowed down, bass-heavy sound is what made their collaboration, H.A.M., such an underground popularity.
There is also a dubstep homage on the album. “Who Gon Stop Me” has the dubstep sound that is included in many popular songs mixed with the Southern bass and the soul sample. This mixture of genres is what makes the album stand out. In this song, the artists return to the theme of vanity with Kanye singing, “This is somethin’ like the Holocaust, millions of our people lost.”
Album Review
With the combination of the interesting mixture of sounds, the introspective statements about the industry and communities hurt by violence, and the triumphant songs that you have to vibe to, Watch the Throne is an album that is definitely worth a listen for fans of the two artists. This is not anything lyrically exceptional for the artists individually, but it shows the boundaries of creativity two different artists could push themselves to and creates hope that other artists will follow suit in their own collaborations.
Vincent Bernard Garrett Jr. - Vincent Garrett is a music journalist & radio show host with years of experience in reporting and reviewing music for various ...
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