not really wanting to watch the throne..

On paper, Watch the Throne is a Hip Hop masterpiece featuring two of the modern day heavyweights. Jigga. Kanye. The Hip Hop supergroup.

Production wise, this album should be classic. With the help from RZA, Premier, old pals, The Neptunes and Swizz Beatz, the duo was able to hook in some of the best board keeps the game has to offer. It's the lyrical moves I'm afraid of. It would be different if Jay-Z was the Jigga from 15 years ago. Even The Black Album Jay would be good enough. But he ain't. Listening to this album, it's obvious Jay and Kanye weren't going for a Return of the Boom Bap type of product. They were looking for the loot. Pop sounding music with some urban millionaires masquerading behind Hip Hop masks. Don't get me wrong. Both lyricists can bring it. It's just the quality of their rhymes that are usually lacking.

As predicted, it's the guests on the project that made this album good. While a few tracks like, Otis held their own even though I never knew someone to feature someone who is strictly just sampled into the track. Mind you, the great Otis Redding has been dead since '67. Weird. But. lets move on. The classics were thanks to the bros on the board. Gotta Have It featured the weakest sounding of the trademark Neptunes beats I've heard in a long while. But it worked. Borrowing James Brown's Get Up and Drive Your Funky Soul. (Funny how they didn't feature on this joint. But I digress. RZA's beat on New Day wasn't RZA. I had to take the double take wondering if that was the right song. The beat also worked, but it could've been better. The album lost steam here.


The Deluxe Edition track which has Primo's The Joy with guest vocals from the late Curtis Mayfield , was a highlight and the best song on the whole procject.

The album has its rough patches. It has its high quality songs. The Bangers. At most, it was average. Nothing too spectacular for an album that should've been the best release of the year. The reason? Two of the biggest egos in music trying to make a cohesive project gets confused with them trying to one up each other spitting on what tax bracket their in and what they're doing with their Benjamin's. If Kay and Jay went back to just classic Boom Bap emceein', I would've wanted to Watch the Throne more.