Long ago, in the era after the deaths of giants Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, the hip-hop world was looking for a new master of ceremonies to step into the void and take over as king. Jay-Z wanted to be that emcee. His diss track of New York-area rivals "Takeover" was designed to be just that, and included a prescient warning to competitors: "Don't throw rocks at the throne."
At the time, he may or may not have been the king he claimed to be. Now, with "the baddest chick in the game wearing his chain," as part owner of the soon-to-be-Brooklyn Nets, having sold over 50 million albums worldwide and with a personal net worth of more than half a billion dollars, he certainly is.
So when he decided to team up with Kanye West for their recently released album and tour "Watch the Throne" — which continues tonight at Boston's TD Garden — hip-hop fans were understandably very excited. West, while disliked by many for his narcissism, has an impressive track record himself — all five of his solo albums went platinum and he has won 14 Grammy awards. West stands at the forefront of a new generation of hip-hop, in which more musical elements are being incorporated into a genre striving for growth.
"Watch the Throne" features kings of eras past and present in hip-hop, a duo with enough talent to sleep walk through the record and still make a classic. From the first song, "No Church in the Wild," West's influence is apparent in the album. The beats on "Watch the Throne" are a far cry from more traditional boom-bop hip-hop instrumentals, instead incorporating the same genre-stretching heavy electronic tones that defined West's previous release, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy." Because of this more unorthodox style, the album takes a few more listens than other works in Jay's and Ye's canons to get comfortable enough to bob your head. But Jay-Z and West, swagged out as they are, make it work.
West generally delivers the wittier punchlines: "Prince William ain't do it right if you ask me, if I was him I would've Married Kate and Ashley." But while the beats smack of his influence, and while he delivers the more memorable lines, Jay-Z's presence on the album remains enormous. He seems to have settled into a more staccato flow than in works past, losing some of the whackiness in his delivery, but he remains the progenitor of the album's ethos.
More than anyone else within hip-hop, Jay-Z has made it. He is Stringer Bell had Bell's vision come true: from crack sales to rap to owning everything. In his own words, "I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man!" And if this album has a unifying theme, it is a celebration of this success. In "Made In America," we hear a story of African-Americans ascending to the proverbial top of the world. In "N***** in Paris," we celebrate this success with the emcees. While Jay-Z was rising to the top of the rap game, though it was indeed a money-machine, it was not yet the cultural force that it has since become. Then, a great rapper could become king of hip-hop. Now, he (or she, or even phe, though certainly not yet) can become more. It seems important, further, that Jay-Z — and now West — were able to ascend to the peak of American life in an inherently, or at the very least historically, black medium (apologies to Professor of Africana Studies Tricia Rose for any issues that statement might raise).
The flipside of all this is that, the two having now reached such lofty heights, they seem less hungry to prove themselves. Consequently, there are moments in "Watch the Throne" that feel complacent. The songs "Lift Off" and "Welcome to the Jungle" come to mind. It's hard, in many cases, for rappers to maintain their hunger when their lives become so different from where they began. They lose some of their original motivation. West, to me, seems forever motivated by his rabid narcissism, his blessing and his curse. Jay-Z, since feigning retirement in his classic "Black Album," seems to be motivated by a vague desire to stay on top of the game — a desire, I suppose, which motivates every rapper to some degree. Unfortunately, his success may be his undoing, for he has little left to gain or lose in this area. "The Nets could go 0-82," he raps, "and I'd look at you like this shit gravy."
Nevertheless, both artists are great at what they do, and it is important to note that there are several tracks on the album that are simply cold. The aforementioned "N***** in Paris" is extremely catchy. The same is true of the other single from the album, "Otis." Other tracks are hidden gems: "Gotta Have It," produced by the Neptunes, is a banger. Bonus track "The Joy," produced by Pete Rock, should only be held with oven mitts. "New Day," in which West and Jay-Z advise their sons on how to live life, is gold as well. All in all, the album is neither of the artists' best work, but the fact of the matter is that West and Jay-Z couldn't flop if they tried. As Mel Brooks once put it, "It's good to be the king."
