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Jay-Z and Kanye West share the Throne

By Robert Rossi, Managing Editor, on August 8, 2011 10:50 PM

August 8, 2011.  Write it down, music fiends.  The day that rivalry died.  It may be true that there hasn’t been a good one for a while, but the release of Watch The Throne makes it official.  Arguably the two most important rappers of our time have come together to make an album under the most self-glorifying title imaginable.

“The Throne,” as Jay-Z and Kanye West call themselves depending on whom you ask, doesn’t really have any historical precedent.  The Beatles and Stones would not have done this.  Michael and Prince would not have done this.  And 2Pac and Biggie would never have done this.  In fact, the only precedent comes courtesy of the self-proclaimed King of the NBA.

Maybe this album is the legacy of LeBron James.  Why actually compete with your best competitor when the two of you can team up and embarrass the other guys that you both were already dominating?  Kanye did dub himself “the LeBron of rhyme” on his last release, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.  Jay, after all, has had dibs on Michael Jordan for years.  If you take two 10 out of 10 stars and combine them, the result should be a 20, right?

Well, not quite. I want to be clear when I say that Watch The Throne is the best rap release of 2011 that I’ve heard.  But seeing as Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter IV, J. Cole’s Cole World: The Sideline Story, and Drake’s Take Care have all yet to hit iTunes, take that with a grain of salt.  Yes, this is a better album than Eminem and Royce Da 5’9”’s very similar Hell: The Sequel.  Yes, it’s even better than Jay-Z’s last album, The Blueprint 3. But to those who would call WTT “legendary,” I urge you to re-listen to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to remind yourselves what the word means.

There are no offensively bad tracks on Throne (well, except “Lift Off”), but there aren’t many radio invaders, either.  The three advantages Blueprint 3 has over Throne are “Run This Town,” “Empire State Of Mind,” and “On To The Next One.”  The gap is even more extreme when compared to Fantasy (“Power,” “All Of The Lights,” “Monster,” “Runaway”).

In fairness, radio play is not what Throne is going for, though.  The highlights are simply harder (or “HAM”-er, if you want to get clever).  “No Church In The Wild,” the album opener, is as vicious as the title would suggest.  “What’s a king to a god/What’s a god to a nonbeliever?” guest Frank Ocean croons in the hook.  How many of the three descriptions apply to the two emcees is up to the listener.

The previously-maligned “Lift Off” features a much-more-than-guest appearance from Beyonce that may not have been entirely the idea of Yeezy or Jay-Hova, also known as Mr. Knowles.  From track three on, however, the album sees the co-monarchs harden and rarely soften up.  “Otis” features the pair trading battle rhymes over an Otis Redding vocal sample (Kanye’s “I made ‘Jesus Walks,’ I’m never going to Hell” is one of the best lines of the year, because you’re not quite sure if he means it).  “New Day” centers around production from the RZA and Jigga Man and ‘Ye reveling in Raekwon’s “Me and the RZA connect” line from “Incarcerated Scarfaces.”  “Welcome To The Jungle” features Hova declaring himself, appropriately, “the black Axl Rose.”

But the climax of the album is “Murder To Excellence.”  The song is a two part piece, with the “Murder” section produced by Swizz Beatz and the “Excellence” portion produced by S1.  “Murder” features Jay and Kanye looking down from their castles to decry the state of black America and the rampant poverty that plagues it even in the 21^st century.  “Excellence,” in contrast, celebrates their success and status as symbols of inspiration to the millions for whom they lament.  The connection between the hopelessness and devastation of the rappers’ childhood neighborhoods and the luxurious excesses in which they bask everyday is the defining theme of the album.  Well, besides how much better both of them are compared to every other rapper in the world.  But how couldn’t they address this equally pressing matter after they’ve invited us to “watch the throne?”

Throne is at the end of day what it theoretically should be.  It’s a great work of art from two of the greatest artists in their field.  Better than what most anyone else could do, but not as good as what either of its creators is capable of when not sharing the stage with someone who commands equal attention from the listener.  The Throne definitely belongs to these two at the moment, but WTT doesn’t quite knock out every challenger to it.

And lastly, for those of you playing the “How Many Tracks Go By Until Jay-Z Quotes The Notorious B.I.G.” game, whoever picked track three, you are the winner.

8/10