Artist: Jay-Z and Kanye West
Album: Watch the Throne
Label: Roc-A-Fella, Roc Nation, Def Jam
Rating: 5
Watch the Throne was highly anticipated when it came out in August. It is a collaborative album by Jay-Z and Kanye West. After listening to it, it’s clear why the album made it to number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in its first week.
The sound of this album builds off of Kanye’s last album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It incorporates the same orchestral and progressive rock influences and original samples in its sound. Dramatic is one word that would definitely describe all of the songs. The lyrics portray themes of fame, power, materialism and political and socioeconomic themes.
Each song has its own unique sound and context. Some songs that address particular social issues are “Made in America” and “Murder to Excellence”. The songs “Who Gon Stop Me” and “Why I Love You” have a sense of harshness and moodiness. Beyonce’s collaboration on “Lift Off” makes it one of the best songs in the album. And the song with the best beat was clearly “Ni**as in Paris”.
Jay-Z and Kanye’s collaboration on this album has made it a success.
Give these tracks a listen: “Lift Off (feat. Beyonce)”, “Gotta Have It”, “Murder to Excellence”, “Ni**as in Paris”
For Fans of: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Wiz Khalifa
– Paayal Zaveri
