Damn. Look at that cover. Only arguably two of the three current monarchs of hip-hop could get away with that, and Weezy would just sound silly rapping some of these verses. "Luxury rap, the Hermes of verses/Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive" raps Kanye on second single "Otis," and that basically sums up the theme of the record. Two giants of a genre, a mentor and a pupil, celebrating their combined success with a spectacle of brash extravagance. Watch The Throne not only showcases two all-time great MCs at their best, but it also feels sort of like a changing of the guard.
Kanye first really got his foot into the door of the music industry through Jay-Z, producing Jay's hit single Izzo (H.O.V.A.). This relationship helped West persuade Jay to sign him as a solo performer when most other record companies didn't want to. West was a breakthrough success, and as his popularity and talent grew, the relationship between the two MCs got rocky at times (as evidenced in the Kanye track "Big Brother"). Watch The Throne is the first full collaboration record between the two friends and rivals, and hearing them side-by-side really makes it apparent that Kanye is in his prime while Jay's career is nearing its end.
Anyway, enough backstory and speculation, and onto the music. Overall, the album is really solid, and the reason why is the production. Kanye and his laundry list of producer friends take sampling in hip-hop to a new level. Whether it's the dubstep-rap (!) of "Who Gon Stop Me" or turning Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness" into a rhythm track on "Otis," the production crew keeps finding new ways to surprise listeners (including sampling Will Ferrell!). Another highlight is the great guest appearances by Beyonce and Frank Ocean, whose inclusion on two songs marks the Odd Future singer's grand entrance into the public consciousness. A few more guest appearances may have been needed to stop Kanye from trying to sing though, something which he has proven again and again he can't do naturally. Another complaint is that a few songs feature these weird little interludes which kind of kill the flow of the record.
As far as the raps go, Kanye's rhymes pretty much kill Jay's on this record, not to insinuate Jay's are bad or mailed-in at all. For the most part, Jay feels a little more laid-back and slow while Kanye lays down the majority of the faster rhymes. Lines like "Heard Yeezy was racist, well, I guess that’s on one basis/I only like green faces" and "I made 'Jesus Walks,' I'm never goin' to hell." are hilarious and classic. There isn't a whole lot of personal material like on most Kanye records, except on the standout tracks "New Day" and "Made in America." "New Day" is particularly interesting, as Kanye and Jay talk to their unborn children, wanting them to have a normal life and not to be affected by their father's fame and crazy lifestyle.
Without a really epic, standout track and a few missteps, I don't think this is the instant classic hip-hop record a lot of people expected it to be. However, the interesting sampling and production techniques may open the door for more producers to try using genres like dubstep as backing tracks for their hip-hop records. Instant classic it isn't, but it's still a very good record, and perhaps even one we'll look back on in a few years as being the one that spawned a new subgenre or two. 4.1/5.
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