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Kanye West & Jay-Z present: Watch The Throne

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R

Red_Man

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Someone should sacrifice a goat or something, to help our chances of something actually happening tonight
 
O

Oozer3993

Member
enzo_gt said:
DAMN PETER YOU DONT KNOW HOW FAST I JUMPED TO SEE IF SNIPPETS WERE UP ON ITUNES. Nothing on Canadian store :(

Damn what. Seeming more and more like Living So Italian was renamed.

Also, I wanna see So Appalled performed live properly. One of my favourite beats of 2010, I could listen to it on loop endlessly. Actually somehow So Appalled has become my most listened to song on iTunes. O_O
Click to expand...

Living So Italian is not on the album.

Insiders tweeted from the event noting that there were at least a couple of album omissions. "H.A.M." was noticeably absent as well as "So Italian" which is no longer on the tracklist due to restrictions on licensing the sample.
Click to expand...
 
P

PBY

Banned
They better leak living so italian. Also, kanyetothe peeps don't know what to do with themselves anymore.
 
E

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
8 MORE MINUTES

MickBoogie MickBoogie
Just played Big Brother and watch Kanye rap it to Jay-Z. Wowsers.

Damn son.
 
S

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
The (GAF) hype is strong with this one. I'm not expecting anything mindblowing from this at all, but I'm looking out for this. Is the plan still to drop it August 8th (officially)?
 
S

SpeedingUptoStop

will totally Facebook friend you! *giggle* *LOL*
WzQlU.gif
 
O

Oozer3993

Member
Stat Flow said:
The (GAF) hype is strong with this one. I'm not expecting anything mindblowing from this at all, but I'm looking out for this. Is the plan still to drop it August 8th (officially)?
Click to expand...

Yep. August 8th on iTunes, August 12th everywhere else. Physical copies of the Deluxe edition are exclusive to Best Buy though.
 
R

Red_Man

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
If they move the pre-sale again ill just kill myself due to all this trolling, can't take it anymore.
 
E

Expendable.

Member
track by track

“No Church in the Wild” f/ Frank Ocean – The first track starts in darkness, Ocean’s voice crooning over a relentless bassline “Whats a king to a God / a god to a non-believer…?” Later we hear the words “your love is my scripture.” But, possibly inspired by Frank O’s novacane swag, (he sounds more like a star in the making than ever) The Throne talk more about white powder than love or holy wine. Jay compares his influence to “the rock, got the whole game bleached.” Kanye adds: “Coke on black skin got her striped like a zebra / I call that jungle fever.”

Constellations twinkle in the artificial sky of the planetarium theater and the template for the album is established. It feels like a Kanye record in terms of musical vision—with artful arrangements and a rock-opera sense of the dramatic–but Jay leads off the rapping, setting the lyrical pace and a certain dark momentum.

(oboe interlude)

“Lift Off” (f/ Beyoncé) – Beyonce’s voice belts “Take it to the moon and stars, takin’ it to Mars” over a bassline so thick it is almost Sleng Teng, as actual moons and stars wheel overhead and rave beeps count out in “you’re a jerk” time.

“Niggas in Paris” – Mosty a mantra of “That shit crack / ball so hard” amplified a million times by the oh-shit, geek-out effect of the bass drop being synched to the explosion of a dino-killing comet burning up on reentry to the atmosphere, then wreaking havoc across Earth’s surface.

“Otis” (f/ Otis Redding) – A lots been said already but I’ll just add this: this might be the happiest record on the album. And watching the milky way morph and pulse to an Otis Redding loop is a little bit like the cosmic and prehistoric diversions of Terence Malick’s “Tree of Life”—like: this shit is amazing but what the hell is it doing in this movie?

“Gotta Have It” – Kanye starts off with “Hello white America…” over a vocal sample so high and eerie it could be a tribal chorus of Deep Forest-style pygmy voices, punctuated with an almost undecipherable punch-phrase that could be: “what you need?” This whole album is going to go hard.

“New Day” – An auto-tune voice that is not Frank Ocean…the chords are familiar but not recognizable yet. Kanye: “I’ll never let my son have an ego / I make sure he act nice wherever we go / Maybe even make him be a Republican…” Jay matches his father-anxieties, closing out the song with: “My dad left me and I promised never to repeat him…” then repeats the phrase three or four times for emphasis. The hook-voice is now recognizable as a Nina Simone interpolation: “It’s a new day / it’s a new life for me” over whale-song guitar riffs you would expect from a Pink Floyd record.

“Prime Time” – Mostly registers as a fast break, like a sped-up “DWYCK,” and is cut pretty short, either an interlude or edited for this presentation.

“Welcome to The Jungle” – Beat seems Cam’ron & Vado-inspired. The voice that says “Welcome to jungle” could be Swizz Beats. Jay’s most memorable line is “My tears are tatted / rag in my pocket” and the overall theme seems to be the existential crisis of a gangster who escapes “the life,” the depression that comes with success.

(oboe interlude)

“Who Gon’ Stop Me” – “I Can’t stop” (could be Pusha T’s voice?) Kanye comes the closest here to the juvenile lyrical genius that is his trademark: “Ixnay off the dixnay / That’s pig latin, bitchnay.” (A star storm rains down from the IMAX). Jay raps: “Black car, black bra, black strap / You know what that’s for.” The bass is dubstep or crunk at its most psychedelic. “The only thing that can stop me is me.”

“Murder to Excellence” – One title for what is really two tracks, “Black on Black Murder” and “Black Excellence,” a meditation on the “first and worst” status of black America. “We weren’t even supposed to be here,” Jay raps “So I’m just celebrating my post-demise.” Kanye recounts Fred Hampton’s death at the hands of the police and compares the number of deaths in Chicago and Iraq on a given day. The music changes for the “excellence” part which ends humbly on “Black Excellence, truly yours…” and ride outs on a tough dancehall drum pattern.

“Sweet Baby Jesus” (f/ Frank Ocean) – A sweet melody that might be the choice for single, if only so it can win a Grammy. Frank O sings the black hagiography of “Brother Malcolm / Queen Betty / Sweet Baby Jesus — we made it in America.

This one brings the themes of the whole album together. Watch the Throne is definitely an opus of some kind—maybe an examination of the black experience kind of the way a Scorcese or Coppolla film does the Italian; instead of shying away from the sterotypes and gangsterisms, dive into them to find the universal; the aspiration, the doubt, the pride and shame, even the family values. Two thirds in, the album gets heavy– not in the way an MOP or Mobb Deep album ever did–but almost heavy as in metal, even though the clean production makes it dark aggressive pop rather than recognizable rock.

“Why I Love You (Feat. Mr Hudson)” – Feels more like a PS than a closer and ends abruptly with: “Lord forgive ‘em for these n**gas know not what they do.” And the theater goes black.
Click to expand...
 
M

MThanded

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
http://www.rap-up.com/2011/08/02/album-preview-jay-z-x-kanye-west-watch-the-throne/#more-92579

Planetariums are more used to hosting classic rock laser light shows than the most anticipated hip-hop album of the year, but last night, hundreds of people stormed the Museum of Natural History to hear Watch the Throne, the long-awaited collaborative album from Jay-Z and Kanye West. With Kanye, Jay, Beyoncé, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, and Kelly Rowland among the numerous musicians in attendance, it took three listening sessions in New York’s massive Hayden Planetarium for the entire crowd to hear the 12-track, hour-long album.

With no guest rappers or skits and minimal orchestral flourishes, Watch the Throne scrapped the original idea of elaborate productions, favoring stripped-down tracks highlighting the two MC’s vocal and lyrical strengths. While the album avoids neat sonic pigeonholing thanks to a wide range of outside producers assisting West and Jay-Z, overall, Throne contains some of the hardest material either rapper has recorded. Jay-Z rhymes in double time on multiple tracks, while Kanye goes light on the punchlines favored in the past for more introspective and autobiographical lyrics.

Rap-Up.com previews Watch the Throne ahead of the album’s August 8 release.


1. “No Church in the Wild” featuring Frank Ocean
Produced by Kanye West and 88-Keys

Longtime West cohort 88-Keys last teamed up with the producer on 2008’s “Stay Up! (Viagra).” But where that track was a smooth, jazzy beat made for a lazy Sunday afternoon, the opening salvo from Watch the Throne is an anthemic, bass-heavy bazooka shot underscoring the duo’s literal and metaphorical relationship with spirituality and religion. With lines like “Your love is my scripture” and “What’s God to a non-believer?,” Kanye and Jay start the album on an pensive note, a recurring theme on Throne. With Frank Ocean, a singer virtually unknown a year ago, providing the hook, the Odd Future crooner’s ascendency as one of the premier R&B vocalists in music is all but assured.

2. “Lift Off” featuring Beyoncé
Produced by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, and Mike Dean

Jeff Bhasker, who co-produced tracks on West’s 808s and Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and longtime West collaborator Mike Dean helped produce this self-empowerment showcase for Beyoncé. Horn blasts and martial drums anchor the track that ditches the rapping for Beyoncé’s voice. “We gonna take it to the moon/ Take it to the stars,” sings B, with the planetarium’s cosmic visuals providing the perfect accompaniment. It’s a vocal triumph for the singer akin to a stretched-out intro, yet the track feels unfinished and lacking in the context of the rest of the album.

3. “Ni**as in Paris”
Produced by Hit-Boy and Kanye West

The first club song on the album, “Paris” stands out for its punishing drums, ominous snyths, and Jay-Z’s double-time raps. This is the Jay-Z that “Big Pimpin’” fans missed when the rapper started hanging out with Chris Martin and dropping references to his stockbrokers and St. Tropez. West reverts back to his old style of enunciating the last word of each line for emphasis, proving that he can still come hard on a track.

4. “Otis” featuring Otis Redding
Produced by Kanye West

After the tepid response from aborted lead single “H•A•M,” now relegated to a deluxe edition bonus track on Throne, the duo released this Otis Redding-sampling track last week to equal parts excitement and bemusement. It’s a curious track for a single, with no recognizable horn blasts or fun, sing-along hooks. But the track’s minimalism forces Kanye and Jay to engage in inspiring lyrical braggadocio that’s short on substance but heavy on swagger. Still, like “Lift Off,” “Otis” feels like a rough draft; a song with a solid backbone that overemphasizes its source material and feels incomplete.

5. “Gotta Have It”
Produced by The Neptunes

Here’s your new “Brooklyn’s Finest.” Over a Neptunes co-production, the two rappers go back and forth every four bars, each trying to one-up the other. Jay-Z recently told Hot 97 DJ Angie Martinez that the pair push each other to be better rappers and this is Throne‘s best example. Musically, it’s a singular track anchored by a repeated European female vocal sample that’s a standout on the album.

6. “New Day”
Produced by The RZA, Kanye West, and Mike Dean

On this track aimed at the rappers’ unborn sons, Jay-Z has said that the honesty of Kanye’s verse almost made him avoid getting on the song. Arguably West’s best verse on Throne, the rapper balances humor, insight, and candor when discussing how his past mistakes will make him a better father. “I want him to have an easy life/ And not have a Yeezy life,” West rhymes over RZA’s cosmic synths and jazzy horns, adding that he’ll turn his son Republican “because he loves white people” and teaching him to avoid strip clubs. Jay-Z, echoing lines from 2006′s “Beach Chair,” admits that “sins of the father made your life harder,” and delves into highly personal, autobiographical lyrics about his pre-rap life.

7. “That’s My Bitch”
Produced by Q-Tip and Kanye West

This is the song aspiring producers will dissect like the Zapruder film to unravel the track’s disparate sounds. “Bitch” sounds like a classic Bomb Squad production, with intricate, heavy drums laying the foundation for West and co-producer Q-Tip’s complex layering.

8. “Welcome to the Jungle”
Produced by Swizz Beatz

Despite the title, there’s no Guns N’ Roses sample here, though Jay-Z does call himself “the black Axl Rose.” With what sounds like a repeating guitar riff similar to “It’s All About the Benjamins,” this is straight bragging from Jigga, who rhymes, “I look in the mirror/ My only opponent.”

9. “Who’s Gon Stop Me”
Produced by Sham “Sak Pase” Joseph and Kanye West

Expect to see remixes of this one pop up overnight, as soaring synths, deep bass, and a looped vocal of “I Can’t Stop” turn the track into the most experimental dance song either rapper has attempted. This is electronic music more in line with U.K. dubstep producers SBTRKT and James Blake than any traditional hip-hop producers, with a slowed-down tempo and arpeggiated synths creating a woozy backdrop for the duo’s brash vocal dares. When West repeats the title toward the end, challenging all comers, it’s the most confident he’s sounded in years.

10. “Murder to Excellence”
Produced by Swizz Beatz and S1

Swizz Beatz and “POWER” co-producer S1 are responsible for Throne‘s lushest track, which sees the rappers transitioning from verses on black-on-black crime to a celebration of black culture. After a nod to Jay-Z’s “Lucifer” (“I’m from the murder capital where we murder for capital”), West details Chicago’s crime rate, comparing the annual U.S. casualties in Iraq to his own city’s murder rate. It’s a controversial lyric that West will probably be asked about more than once. As the lyrics turn from sobering to celebratory, the somber beat morphs into one of the catchiest head-nodders on Throne.

11. “Made in America” featuring Frank Ocean
Produced by Sham “Sak Pase” Joseph

Another autobiographical track similar to West’s “Big Brother,” “Made in America” sees Kanye and Jay-Z discussing their respective pasts, with West focusing on the past decade and Jay rhyming about his upbringing. With Frank Ocean singing the evocative hook celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X that says, in part, “Sweet baby Jesus/ We made it into America,” West describes meeting Jay-Z, buying his mom a Hummer, and that infamous “South Park” episode. (“‘South Park’ had them all laughin’/ Now all my boys are designers swaggin’.”) Jay-Z “pledge allegiance to all the scramblers” and rhymes about the necessity of hustling over a simple, one-chord piano loop.

12. “Why I Love You” featuring Mr Hudson
Produced by Mike Dean and Kanye West

Like anything U.K. singer Mr Hudson has done with the rappers (“Young Forever,” “Paranoid”), this will be the most polarizing track on the album. On paper, an ’80s power ballad with a hook of “Ooh, I love you so/ But why I love you/ I’ll never know” sounds intolerable; but pop synths that sound like Europe’s “The Final Countdown” mixed with Jay-Z’s double-time rhyming somehow works. Maybe because it was the last track, but this was the one you could hear people singing during the rush to the exits.

Bonus: We’d be remiss not to mention the brief but impactful interludes inserted throughout Watch the Throne. Reminiscent of classic ’90s hip-hop albums like Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth’s Mecca and the Soul Brother, the interludes could have functioned as proper album beats, with one snippet sounding like a hip-hop version of Radiohead’s “Karma Police.” Given the album’s sonic diversity, they function as effective buffers between the most divergent tracks.

–Jason Newman
Click to expand...


Edit: I just finished reading. My hype levels are through the roof.

hype.gif
 
M

MThanded

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
I don't care where I am in the place as long as I'm there. Ticket copping is going to have to wait. If they are gone then I'll just be out of luck.
 
J

jcutner

Member
The seats I got suck, for the Toronto show - but each time I tried to search for more, it wasn't giving me anything. Had a friend look, and he got the same sucky section.

Thank you for purchasing tickets to see JAY-Z and Kanye West. For every ticket purchased, you'll receive a digital copy of their new album, 'Watch The Throne'. When the album is released to the public on 8/8, you will receive an additional email from Ticketmaster with more information on how to obtain your digital copy.
Click to expand...
 
M

MThanded

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Wait wtf the tickets come with the album????
Wait wtf the tickets come with the album????
Wait wtf the tickets come with the album????
Wait wtf the tickets come with the album????

Did anyone else know this?

Edit: I most likely wont be going to any tour date. The new philly, bmore dc dates are probably going to clash with my phd qualifying exam.
 
E

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
MThanded said:
Wait wtf the tickets come with the album????
Wait wtf the tickets come with the album????
Wait wtf the tickets come with the album????
Wait wtf the tickets come with the album????

Did anyone else know this?

Edit: I most likely wont be going to any tour date. The new philly, bmore dc dates are probably going to clash with my phd qualifying exam.
Click to expand...
I posted this like 8 times and Oozer posted the news when they announced the tour. This is why I thought we were getting the album today.
 
Z

zychi

Banned
jcutner said:
The seats I got suck, for the Toronto show - but each time I tried to search for more, it wasn't giving me anything. Had a friend look, and he got the same sucky section.
Click to expand...
explain. shit doesnt go on sale for 9 more minutes.
 
C

Cudder

Member
Got section 107 for the Toronto show. It kept giving me 107 but I kept trying to try my luck at some better seats, but it kept pushing my seats back further and further. I thought I was defeated until another section 107 popped up, then just rolled with that.
 
Z

zychi

Banned
where do you put the presale code in at? there's nothing on the ticketmaster site yet, and the preorder site just sends me back to the ticketmaster site.
 
B

Brinbe

Member
zychi said:
explain. shit doesnt go on sale for 9 more minutes.
Click to expand...
10 AM local, mang.
zychi said:
where do you put the presale code in at? there's nothing on the ticketmaster site yet, and the preorder site just sends me back to the ticketmaster site.
Click to expand...
It'll show up when the sale begins. Just keep mashing that F5 key @ 9:59
 
I

iavi

Member
Who Gon Stop Me sounds like the track of the album. Got damn. Why the hell have they been releasing all these soft ass singles? Almost every other track that I've heard goes harder than the two we've gotten, save for Welcome to the Jungle. That sounds like bargain bin Swizz, from the sample anyway.

E:was "Illest Motherfucker Alive" supposed to be a bonus track? I'm not seeing it in any of these lists, and it was easily best sounding snippet in that mini-documentary.
 
Z

zychi

Banned
fuck ticketmaster's site. cant even buy two together. piece of shit site telling me captcha is wrong everytime.
 
D

DominoKid

Member
Miri said:
Who Gon Stop Me sounds like the track of the album. Got damn. Why the hell have they been releasing all these soft ass singles? Almost every other track that I've heard goes harder than the two we've gotten, save for Welcome to the Jungle. That sounds like bargain bin Swizz, from the sample anyway.

E:was "Illest Motherfucker Alive" supposed to be a bonus track? I'm not seeing it in any of these lists, and it was easily best sounding snippet in that mini-documentary.
Click to expand...

yeah there's 4 bonus tracks in the deluxe.
 
E

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
The beat drop on Gotta Have it sounds ill.
Can't make out much for New Day. But the beat sounds properly done with that piano.
That's My Bitch sounds glorious, and the beat doesn't sound much different than what we heard, tuning out on the lesbians line is a nice touch.
Loving the beat on Welcome To The Jungle, and Jay sounded hungrier than usual on it. As always though, Swizzy ad-libs are annoying and unnecessary.
Who Gon Stop Me's beat sounds like it could get annoying, then again, shit quality.
Murder To Excellence's beat sounds dope. I swear I could just say every beat sounds dope as my impressions.

Something tells me DDotOmen is gonna get an ass whooping for not being invited and still recording snippets.

Here is an incomplete list of rescheduled tour dates so far. Damn, these dudes fucked up with the tour shit.
 
D

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
Got 3 for Houston. Site seemed to slowly release the tickets, not all exactly at 10 local. I spent waaaay to much, but that is why I work.
 
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