Maybe Stop Watching the Throne So Hard
I'm so eye-rolley about the conceit of "Watch the Throne"—the collaboration "album" by Jay-Z and Kanye West, that was thrown together in a few hotel rooms—that I can barely handle listening to it. (Also, did I need a tribute song to ladies in the year 2011 called "That's My Bitch"? Not really!) Despite his usually awesome politics and generally rather wonderful mouthiness, I just don't feel the need to get Kanye's opinions on the state of the world, when he might not have any idea any longer what that state really is. Somehow? On the album, Jay-Z ends up looking clued in, and he's the one banging the political gong, as described here:
There are two kinds of rich man's rhymes on this album, and it's worth understanding how they differ. Just because both men talk about their riches doesn't mean they're talking about them in the same way…. Kanye, depressingly, seems to be content with his shopping list as an end in itself. The guy who once backed up his Katrina-era criticism of Bush 43 by promising to ask his manager how much he could donate to victims now appears to be drained of whatever empathy he once possessed…."The scales was lopsided/ I'm just restorin' order" Jay says of his capitalistic rise. But he also recognizes that his own success is not enough. On "Murder to Excellence," he says, "Only spot a few blacks the higher we go. … We're gonna need a million more." (Kanye joins him in that sentiment, briefly, before departing to buy Gucci shoes at the mall.)
Besides, Gucci hasn't really made an exciting men's shoe in at least four years.
What Jay-Z isn't rapping about La Perla bras and Louboutin shoes anymore?
BV;DR
so Choire Sera, Choire Sera.
More like Watch the Phoned In.
Don't have HBO and not a fan of the medieval fantasy television series.
It's a good album though! It has some jolly tunes on it!
I suppose it's not even worth complaining about the tremendous rush to judgement that's been happening with this album. Or "album," and I think that's a fair point—it does sound like a thing recorded in a bunch of different hotel rooms, over a bunch of different months. But I'm not sure that bothers me. It feels like everybody's really racing to either hate it or love it. (I actually read someone on twitter today saying that they were "sticking to their guns" in continuing to listen to it.) And I guess that's understandable, given the status of it's makers. And the internet we're living in. I do think that people are too stuck on the conceit (and the conceitedness?) and surprisingly over-focussed on just the lyrics, maybe too stuck and over-focussed to give the music itself it's due. I've been enjoying so far. The beats, the production, are the star of the show for me so far. (And I realize that here I am now, rushing out a judgement. Maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow, when the album has been out for more than three days?) To me, so far, the album sounds like a million bucks.
@Dave Bry Yeah, it's worth complaining about these things — or at least raising those issues. But first off, I'm not sure this is an internet problem, strictly. This album is cultural news! Any news environment at any time, webby or not, would be on it. Covering the thing shortly after its release seems fair, even if critics didn't get the month-long head start they're used to (in the name of both leak-avoidance and aura-building).
I didn't write a trad review (or do a track by track breakdown of the various productions), because a) the Internet's already full of those, as you note and b) I'm happy to let the experience sit as a whole for a while. But the politics + class issues are right up front here. And besides, I'm not sure it's possible to over-focus on rap lyrics as lyrics — that is, if one is persuaded by the way Jay talks about 'em in "Decoded."
@sethcolterwalls Yes. This is a weird stance for me to take regarding the focus on lyrics. (Or it feels weird to me, at least.) Because I'm very happy that people are reading rap lyrics so closely. And, certainly, there are many different ways and things to write about an album. And taking a lyrics-based look and the politics and class issues is a fine and worthy one. But completely divorcing the lyrics from the music seems slightly unfair. We should listen to the music. To the production, the song structures. And think and write about that stuff, too.
@Dave Bry i'll reserve judgement on the whole thing until i've heard it but to my ears the production on "otis" was cluttered and unlistenable. i just can't deal with vocals on top of vocal samples, it didn't work for me at all, it sounded like a completely tossed off mess.
@Dave Bry I hear you there. And I will also say I put the RZA-assisted "New Day" on repeat while on the train this morning … even if I gritted my teeth through Ye's verse *every time*. RESOLVED: let us speak more comprehensively/holistically about the album in a month's time. (Though not online, maybe.)
@iantenna Huh. Man, different ears. I find "Otis" immensely listenable. I can understand not being able to deal with vocals over vocal samples. It doesn't bother me—but sometimes sonic clutter does, so… But for all the complaints that I could imagine, sounding tossed-off would be among the last. I think the way he chopped up that sample and put it back together again sounds very carefully done.