Kanye West & Jay-Z - Watch The Throne
So this drops on Monday, but I haven’t really seen any mention here. Anyone excited?
They’ve pretty much done the impossible in the internet age, in both promising that it wouldn’t leak, and seemingly managing to pull it off too. Added hype comes via generally very favourable listening party reviews, while massively underwhelming lead single H.A.M has been cut from the album.
Unless it's absolute balls it will get 12.4 on Pitchfork, so most of you will hear it anyway.
Otis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lzU8w_yn8I
Guardian’s track by track review:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/aug/02/jay-z-kanye-west-watch-throne
- Relevant artist taggings:
- Kanye West »[x]
- Jay-Z »[x]
- Wolves in the Throne Room »[x]
- News Mixtape: August 2012 ft. Kate Bush, Pussy Riot, Tom Waits, Flying Lotus, Talk Talk, Kanye West
- Justify My Thug: The Perils of Being English, Middle-Class and Loving Hip-Hop
- Moving Pictures - Videos of the Year: 3rd Quarter 2011
- Playing records with Neil Hamburger
- DiS in Australia: Splendour In The Grass 2011
- Big Chill 2011: the DiS review
- Øya 2011, Norway - The DiS review Part I
- Jay-Z, Kanye West - Watch the Throne
Kanye West
Jay-Z
Thread not appearing correctly? Click here to rebuild | Report this
Twitter
Facebook
Last.fm
SoundCloud
MySpace
Friendster
RSS
DiS doesn't care about black people?
I can't believe after MBDTF was DiSers 3rd favourite album of 2010 that no one is interested in this record.
I'm interested
And I'm cautiously optimistic after the listening party previews. Frank Ocean on a couple of tracks strengthens that optimism, can't believe how much I love his album.
Yeah the Frank Ocean album has grown on me massively
I wasn't into it at all at first, but it's one of my favourite of the year now. This is going to help him blow up big time too.
As regards to WTT, I thought all along that it would be a bit of a mess, but it sounds surprisingly great - still a lot of dark thematics left over from the last album, weird oboe interludes, dubstep bangers, Frank Ocean... all the ridiculous touches you expect from Kanye.
I'm really looking forward to it
I didn't really like H.A.M so I'm glad that's been dropped, Otis is excellent though
Wait till you get a load of this.
http://mjf.mostlyjunkfood.com/treats/2011/08/tumblr_lpdptrh5st1qa3pq5o1_500-498x600.jpg
courtesy of svenrokk
man that's creepy.
I can't stop opening this, looking at it for five seconds and then freaking and closing it.
IT'S JUST NOT RIGHT.
enjoyed the documentary
that leaked about it
love kanye, not so much jay z, looking forward to it tho
There was a documentary?
Gonna find that now.
Do you have a link to the documentary?
Kind of forgot about this coming out. Why is Mr Hudson on it? What happened to his library?
Yeah, you can watch the documentary here guys
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.16112/title.jay-z-reflects-on-kanye-west-in-watch-the-throne-mini-documentary
Hoping the album has better songs than Otis
Most of the reviews point to other tracks as standouts
but I think Otis could work well in context of the album. I like it quite a bit, but it sounds poorly mastered to my ears.
nope
insightful. thanks for swinging by!
So stoked for this one.
Only listened to Otis a couple of times, but I though H.A.M. was top notch.
Apparently they had a whole album of H.A.M.-esque material recorded
They decided it was massive & epic, but not particularly listenable. They scrapped that, and another, and we're apparently getting the THIRD full recording of the album... Kanye doesn't do things the easy way
.
The Kanye West album was DiS's number three album of last year? That surprises me. In fact, the amount of praise that album got in general surprised. I thought it was an overproduced mess, no matter how much I persevered with it.
I see the RZA has a beat on it...
not that surprising, it was indie kid catnip
- sampled Aphex Twin, Gil Scott Heron, featured Bon Iver
- grand artistic statement (read: overblown)
- intelligent, thought provoking lyrics that made it stand out from rap crowd (read: white, emo)
Plus it was really great
^here's ya case study
enjoying music >>> making case studies about it
here's ya case study
http://tinyurl.com/3w38ctu
yeah
I suppose the things I mentioned above wouldn't really appeal to white, rockist, rap daytripping music critics
okay but i'm not a rap daytripper
i had several hundred hip hop CDs before I even laid a finger on a Pixies or Pavement record, yet I still love MBDTF & a lot of Kanye's work. Not all rap fans do, not all indie types do, and thats cool, but I think it's narrow minded to dismiss it as indie-baiting, or to call it 'indie' to sample Gil Scott Heron, given that he is one of the key influences on the rap genre, or that a hip-hop artist should want to sample a seminal electronic musician.
Now I know why Big Boi's album was so popular here too
It was those Boards of Canada samples and getting Will Oldham to sing on one track
no, it's cos that LP is -*taight*-
OH SHEEEEIIITTT, HE'S GOT Y'ALL FIGURED OUT
didn't this leak yesterday?
i'm sure i saw something on twitter about it
someone recorded some terrible quality snippets on their iphone from one of the listening parties
but by and large they've kept it surprisingly well under wraps.
:D
<3 the internet
Otis is fucking horrible
And I'm a bit apprehensive in general. Jigga has been SO off his game for years.
Dunno where it all went wrong for Jigga
I really like American Gangster, but if you take out that brief window of respite, he's been terrible since he officially came out of retirement. He must really struggle for inspiration these days.
Word for word, this is what I was gonna say.
Of course I'll still give it a listen, mind. I would love for it to be good.
I can't listen to 'Otis'
as 'Try a Little Tenderness' is near enough my favourite song ever and the exact part that they sample is near enough my favourite part of any song ever.
Everytime the sample loops and doesn't let Otis carry on singing I want to punch myself in the face.
Other than that I'm looking forward to it.
Yeah, I'm not necessarily against sampling Otis, but that beat sounds like it was made by a twelve year old.
ffs
Didnt think much of the first song
which surprised me, Kanye has been on fire recently
Oh well, I loved Otis and I am well excited. So there.
Only 10 to 15 hours until it's released and still no leak.
Pretty impressive.
I liked both Otis & H.A.M. So there.
shows what you can do with fistfuls of cash!
must be a first for a release of this size.
I guess having the digital release 4 or 5 days before the physical
and both versions being limited to several outlets his helping a bit.
On my first listen....
not sure I like it as much as MBDTF but its pretty good. I have a belief that any song that samples nina simone is gonna be shit but they actually pull it off quite well somehow
Via Kanye productions
Nina Simone sampling at it's best
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WEqr1zDq5s
Certainly need more listens to WTT, but as these collabo things go, it's pretty good. Probs down there with Graduation in terms of Ye's catalogue though.
The beat is incredibly lazy isn't it
and Jay Z's lyrics have been o so-so for at least 5 years now
you are on fine form today bb
elaborate on why two friends making a collaborative album is everything wrong with the music industry?
are you just soiling yourself because they've pissed off independent record stores?
Ha, just because you don't like something
it's not 'everything wrong with the music industry', that was a silly statement.
For what it's worth i like that Niggas In Paris track, and Lift Off serves as a decent intro.
These collabo's are almost always shite, but this one is actually pretty decent. It's nothing compared to their early work together: Jay sounds best over soulful production and Ye barely produced any of this album. It's far better than the Blueprint 3 though, and even if it emerges as the weakest Kanye album I don't think that accounts for a major embarrassment.
the itunes thing was championed by Lil Wayne I think
hold on to an album to the last minute before dropping it via itunes, hopefully preventing a leak. This worked - and hey, probably a few more people would have actually paid for their music. I know how cheapskates annoy you.
The exclusivity contract is both shitty & quite common, but to be fair is only on the deluxe edition.
I really doubt they started this as a money grabbing exercise. It was meant to be an EP with a few MBDTF remixes and a couple of new tracks, but they liked the idea of giving an LP a try. Even if you think this is a complete misstep musically, they've earned the right to give it a go imho.
Have you just contradicted almost everything you've posted on dis ever?
I'm enjoying most of the tracks so far
And Otis is nowhere to be found :)
I like it, I also thing the version of Otis is better mastered and has better drums
It knocks kinda hard on my stereo. It's definitely still on the album though! (See Sean's stream below). No worries if you don't like it I guess.
*think
It's not on the version I downloaded
Whatevs, no major loss.
STREAM
http://hypebeast.com/2011/08/jay-z-kanye-west-watch-the-throne-full-album-stream/
that documentary
is kinda sweet, and also horribly cringe-worthy (Jigga rap)
Only listened to the track twice,
but can anyone pick out Seal (yes him) singing in Lift Off???
Its ok,
I like Ni&&as in Paris, Thats My Bit*h and Gotta Have It.
Some real clunkers; Made it in America (WTF, for real?), Why I Love You, Otis, Welcome To the Jungle (weak production from Swizz).
Pretty forgettable overall. At this point it might have been a more interesting angle to just go all over-the-top pompous bombast with it and just be like lol you thought mbdtf was grandiose?
idk guys, just not sure it matters what Jay says anymore. Even his flow sounds fractured now, like he's trying to find which hot rapper he can ape from track to track.
I miss this type of thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8e4AVybkOM
On a semi-side note; I spent some quality time recently revisiting Vol 3... Life and Times, what an album for real. Sits somewhere up top in his catalog, probably ahead of Black Album for me. Snoopy Track, holy smokes that beat still floors me, that slight g-funkish switch up near the end, some snarly ish.
I dig Niggas In Paris despite how disconcerting it is to hear Jay biting Gucci's flow.
Some weird shit.
musically on point
lyrically dull. i expect that from jay these days, but kanye spent all of last year putting everybody to shame, so the disappointment is mostly there.
Soooo after a few listens
I like this a fair bit, but it's definitely Yeezy's weakest effort to date, and it would drop in a fair way down Jay's catalogue. Both of them are completely anonymous on the mic... for guys known for reeling off quotables I can remember about 2 lines on this.
Highlights: No Church In The Wild sounds like a cast off from Black Milk's Tronic, which in turn makes it pretty damn good. Dig Frank O's work.
Niggas In Paris is the only track which is as fun as you'd have hoped this record would sound, That's My Bitch knocks pretty hard, & RZA's Nina Simone sampling on New Day is pretty cool, almost sounds like a cousin to the Dark Fantasy opener. Murder To Excellence might be my favourite though - shove this on Late Registration and it would still sit pretty.
Lowlights: Welcome To The Jungle is balls, Made In America makes me cringe my face off, and that interlude really doesn't turn this grab bag into a cohesive piece of work. The mastering is frickin' terrible, makes MBDTF looks pristine.
It scrapes a 7/10 for now.
Tom Breihan gave it 8.5
...
Seems pretty reasonable
if not extremely safe.
I'd probably agree with that though, and reading the comments above it sounds like the general feel. It's good, but not groundbreaking. I don't think anyone was expecting this to work out perfectly anyway.
I think it'll grow on me
There are some great moments but most of them turn really messy really quickly and Jay-Z is still in terrible form. It's an odd one.
Who Gon Stop Me
is definitely the best song.
It's great for 50% and then those totally unnecessary switch-ups in the beat ruin it
It's just a jumbled mess by the end.
I love it.
Including 'Otis', which I really love. Good work, Kanye and Jay-Z.
the video for otis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaALOHjBftk
the video really enhances the song, jay and kanye really look like best pals, wonderful video.
i'm sure people are gonna say it looks contrived
but jay especially seems to be having the time of his life
Aye, this video is really awesome.
Simple good times. Rappers having fun in videos is always a good look.
Totally missed the Aziz Ansari cameo
first time round.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpstq2MU321qj44ruo1_500.gif
^^^ I really want to do this.
Have we talked about this Ghostface review of the album?
http://rapsandhustles.com/2011/08/11/ghostface-killah-watch-the-throne-album-review/
so funny
I love that man so much
:D
Easily the best review of this album.
Best quote:
How many meadows did Kanye cartwheel across before he decided to make this beat? Seriously yo…. Jus how many lily pads did the nigga skip across the pond on before he got inspired to make some shit like this?
i busted up laughing at:
This shit sounds like two niggas hang glidin over the ocean together at sunset holdin hands son.
We all know this isnt really Ghost, right?
Still funny, mind.
Pretty good impression though.
No doubt.
LOLOLOL
http://i55.tinypic.com/2mhedt5.jpg
*jay-z's previous albums
Need a few more listens
But found it average on first listen, some highlights for me were
That's My Bitch
Who Gon Stop Me
Primetime
The Joy
As already said above Made In America is bloody awful. Overall just expected something more, I don't know, grand and epic like, but then it may be a grower.
Not feeling it.
Lacking in the usual oomph of Kanye and Jay-z which is a shame. Could have been better!
Listened to it this morning.
Not that impressed. Some of the bits sound like Fisher Price dubstep. I may change my opinion after another listen.
just listened to this
production is amazing 75% of the time apart from, as dave said above^, Fisher Price dubstep tracks.
Maybe four/five songs to take off it, otherwise nah, messy and a let down
very much enjoying this
kanye's rhyming of fallopian with ethiopian tickled me pink
i got the special edition, the cd packaging is glorious
tell you what I'm not feeling
THE SILLY NEGATIVE REVIEWS. This album has been a real grower. At first it kind of passed by like hmmm ok. Repeat listens has ensured this album will live on for me though.
I thought this was getting universally praised?
Or do you mean the reviews in this thread?
I admit that I do need to listen to it more though. Watching that Otis video kind of endeared me back to these guys.
Really enjoying a lot of this album
Frank Ocean is annoying in Made in America, but nothing short of stellar in No Church in the Wild. That might be my favourite overall, closely followed by New Day.
Lost count of how many times I've watched the Otis video.
Liking that Mr Hudson song
It has grown on me a lot.
I actually find Jay pretty entertaining on this. *Kanye shrug*