Re-Reviewing Kanye & Jay’s “Watch the Throne”: Has It Stood the Test of Time? Posted by Ryan Buell on 05/06/13 | Filed under Top Stories, Opinion, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Album Reviews

A Note From Nathan S.:

In 2013 albums are proclaimed classic or crashes a week after they drop, so RefinedHype Nation regular Ryan Buell came up with the idea of re-reviewing albums after they've had some time to really sink in, I thought it'd be a dope way to see what's really stood the test of time.

Next in the series, Kanye and Jay-Z (YeHova)'s "Watch the Throne", an album that was simultaneously disappointing and enormously successful. Either way, it was kind of a big deal.

Enjoy...

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The first two albums that I re-reviewed were albums that I felt got overshadowed by their artists’ other bodies of work and were generally slept on (though plenty of people thought I was an idiot and insisted the albums were still no good). Both "Cole World" and "Live from the Underground" undoubtedly suffered from impossibly high expectations based on the quality Cole and KRIT’s previous works. However, neither can compare to the unbelievable hype that surrounded the release of Jay-Z and Kanye’s collaboration album, "Watch the Throne". Still, the tour de force of two hip-hop titans teaming up could not be derailed by such expectations. The album had very respectable first week sales of over 400K, and has since gone platinum. It was critically well received, and was nominated for seven Grammys. Perhaps most importantly, the album dominated pop culture and infused itself into the lexicon of millions of Americans. But how has it stood up to the test of time? Is the acclaim and appeal it received justified in retrospect?

The obvious place to start reexamining this album would be “N*ggas in Paris,” the song the duo willed to success by performing it up to eleven times consecutively in concerts. In some respects, it seems formulaic: one-liners (granted, exceedingly well executed one-liners), a pop culture sample, and a kitten-punching beat from an up-and-coming producer. Give the formula to two of hip-hop biggest names and of course the song was bound to blow up. Yet this perspective undersells the cultural impact that “Paris” had. The song didn’t reach its peak chart status until November, a full three months after its initial single release and four since the album dropped. It then proceeded to light up airwaves well into the following year. Yet for months, the song provided people with quotables, from “Ball so hard” to “What she order? Fish fillet,” and of course “That shit cray.” The sheer audacity of the lines is equally matched by YeHova’s confidence in their delivery. The song begged to be played on repeat, and The Throne were more than happy to oblige, playing it until it became bored into the general consciousness of society. A musical milestone it was not, but it struck a chord within society that still resonates. And perhaps this is truer still of "Watch the Throne" in its entirety.



“Murder to Excellence” has long been my favorite cut from the album, and I’m sure many would say similar things about “Made in America.” And yet these standouts are in the minority on "WTT". They represent a lyrical, almost soulful approach by Yeezy and Jay, but they lack the same sense of grandeur and, dare I say, royalty as many of the album’s other cuts. Bold is an understatement for songs such as “Who Gon Stop Me.” What made this different than the typical swag drenched rap was the feeling that this wasn’t just posturing and braggadocio. Jay and Hov genuinely believe no one can stop them, and they’re out to prove it. The analogy to Lebron and The Heat would be perfect if Kanye hadn’t already pointed it out on “Gotta Have It.” And yet the comparison points to an interesting conclusion. While rivalries dominated earlier generations (think Pac and Biggy, Bird and Magic, etc.), the early trend of the ‘10’s has been the conglomeration of power. Rather than watch superstars push each other through their opposition, we prefer them to reach new heights by joining forces.



"Watch the Throne" may not have been the album of the decade many were hoping it would be, but it was an album of the moment, which may, in itself, be just as impressive. It’s no small feat when a piece of art captures the attention of a generation, and that’s exactly what "WTT" did. In retrospect, it’s easy to see why something like “N*ggas in Paris” would appeal to the ADD generation, but Ye and Hov saw the cards ahead of time, and exploited the niche accordingly, and that’s what makes it so special. They managed to capture success, extravagance, and dominance and synthesize it into an album aimed at a generation infatuated with watching the rise and fall of its stars. It was an album only they could make, because only they could back up their claim to the throne, all while appealing to an increasingly fragmented music industry. "Watch the Throne" wasn’t so much a coronation, as it was an assertion that Jay and ‘Ye were always on top.