Watch the Throne

Five months ago on August 8th, musical artists Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) and Kanye West released their collaboration Album titled Watch the Throne (Album Cover Right). I have decided to analyze this album due to the influence  that Jay-Z and Kanye West have on not only the music industry, but as well as clothing, clubs, drinks, and just about anything you can think of.

Background
Combined they have 33 Grammy awards. They are two of the most decorated rappers of the 21st century. Jay-Z and Kanye West are two of the most influential people in the music industry today. according to Wikipedia They began collaborating Watch the Throne November 2010. You may be wondering what makes these two guys so influence and why was this album so anticipated.
Many people know Jay-Z and Kanye West as musical artist but they also have other business ventures that they are a part of. Jay-Z not only is a musical artist but he is also part owner of the New Jersey Nets as well as the 40/40 Club. He also the creator of the Roca wear clothing, and one of the founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, this all according to biography.com. Kanye West is not as much of an entrepreneur as Jay Z but is influential none the less. He has often caused controversy over things that he has said and or done. One incident that is very well known is shown below. Here is another Link to some controversial Kanye. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z8gCZ7zpsQ

As we can see Jay-Z and Kanye have an influence that reaches out beyond just the music industry. Although they do have influence outside of music it still continues to be their number one way of letting their voice be heard. Jay-Z has produced many hits in his career with albums like Kingdom Come, The Black Album, The Blue Print Albums, as well as Watch the Throne.(Check out Jay-Z's net worth http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/rappers/jay-z-net-worth/ ) Kanye has been busy as well releasing albums such as, Late Registration, College Dropout, Graduation, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, as well as Watch the Throne. As I analyze this album keep in mind the influence that these two rappers have on not only the music industry but on society as well.

Analysis

After listening to this album for awhile I notice that it is a different sound than I am used to hearing when I think of Jay-Z. Although it is different for the Jay-Z stuff I have heard it is more comparable to Kanye West songs of the past with some electronic sounds. I feel like Kanye has started a transition to this new sound that includes electronic or Dub Step feel to it which is what a lot of people are listening to these days. I first noticed this different sound in Kanye's recent album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Kanye's influence in the Watch the Throne album is more apparent I feel than Jay-Z's from a musical stand point. Jay-Z still has the hard hitting beats and deep bass to compliment Kanye's sound. I think that a lot of artist are starting to transition from just staying in the genre. Kanye and Jay-Z I feel have branched out into a new genre that takes bits and pieces from R&B, Hip hop, and electronic, as well as others to create a new and unique kind of sound. Below are three music videos, One of Kanye West, one of Jay-Z, and one of their collaboration tracks.

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'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' track list: 'Dark Fantasy'
'Gorgeous' (featuring Kid Cudi and Raekwon)'POWER''(above)All of the Lights'
'Monster' (featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver)
'So Appalled' (featuring Jay-Z, Pusha T, Prynce Cy Hi, Swizz Beatz and the RZA)
'Devil in a New Dress'
'Runaway' (featuring Pusha T)
'Hell of a Life'
'Blame Game' (featuring John Legend and Pusha T)
'Lost in the World''See Me Now"'
'Runaway Movie' (on the deluxe version only)

  1. "What We Talkin' About" 
2. "Thank You"
3. "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)"
4. "Run This Town" (featuring Kanye West and Rihanna)
5. "Empire State of Mind" (featuring Alicia Keys)
6. "Real As it Gets" (featuring Young Jeezy)
7. "On to the Next One"(featuring Swizz Beatz)LEFT
8. "Off That" (featuring Drake)
9. "A Star is Born" (featuring J. Cole)
10. "Venus vs. Mars"
11. "Already Home" (featuring Kid Cudi)
12. "Hate" (featuring Kanye West)
13. "Reminder"
14. "So Ambitious" (featuring Pharrell)
15. "Young Forever" (featuring Mr Hudson)

Kanye West & Jay-Z – Watch The Throne Tracklist

1. No Church in The Wild (Feat. Frank Ocean)
2. Lift Off (Feat. Beyoncé)
3. Niggas in Paris
4. Otis (Feat. Otis Redding)5. Gotta Have It
6. New Day
7. Prime Time
8. Who Gon Stop Me
9. Murder to Excellence
10. Welcome to The Jungle
11. Sweet Baby Jesus (Feat. Frank Ocean)
12. Love You So (Feat. Mr Hudson)

Bonus
13. Illest Motherfucker Alive
14. H*A*M
15. That’s My Bitch
16. The Joy (Feat. Curtis Mayfield)

Interpretation

I think that this album is influential because of the influence that Jay-Z and Kanye West have on our society. People follow what these guys do because they are rich and famous and live these lavish lifestyles. People what to be a part of that and feel connected with something. These guys can start fades or fashion trends just by wearing something different. An example of this comes from Kanye and the glasses he wore for his song "Stronger" from the album Graduation. When they were first seen wore by Kanye they became a fashion hit. Jay-Z also has a lot of influence with his signature diamond shape that he forms with his hands to symbolize his Roc nation. The target audience for this album is most likely teenagers all the way up through people in the late 20's. I think this is so because they are a group of people that can be influenced very easily and they are the hip crowd, always staying up on new trends. This album did have some offensive material in it with the use of racial slurs as well as curse words. Although there is offensive material it does not over power the other material on the album.

Evaluation

After listening to this album for awhile I have come to the conclusion that this is a very good CD. I don't know if it is Kanye or Jay-Z's best album but it is definitely a good one. It has so aspects of both the rappers styles which is cool and it makes you see where the Hip Hop industry may be headed. I think one of the biggest strengths of this album is the star power that is behind it. The album was one of the most anticipated in 2011 and as of February 2012 it has sold over 1,316,000 copies in the U.S. alone. Strength is that is just good music with some hard hitting beats. Claire Suddath from Time had this to say in her review of Watch the Throne."Dig deep into Throne, past the bacchanal celebration of the finer things in life, and you'll find the album's heart: two men grappling with what it means to be successful and black in a nation that still thinks of them as second class." Although Claire thought that Watch the Throne delivered a good message I thought that it was one of its weaknesses. I felt like they rapped about the same thing in every song; talking about how rich and famous they are. Greg Knot of the Chicago had this to say about Watch the Throne in his review. "Both West and Jay-Z were vocal backers of Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign, but now that America is struggling to regain its economic bearings, they rhyme about their private jets, expensive watches and supermodel escapades." Although Watch the Throne had it strengths and weaknesses it is still very popular and continues to be popular over five months after its release date.

(Consumer review of Watch the Throne)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLMuUZhHZqE

Overall

I enjoyed working on this project because it gave me the chance to research two the artists I listen to quite frequently. I have found that a lot of people I know like this album and it continues to be blasted in our house on the weekend. I had already bought the album before I began this project but I thought it would be a good subject because of the influence that Jay-Z and Kanye have on our society. The biggest thing I learned from doing this project is how many things musical artists can have their hands in, and many of them like Jay-Z and Kanye are becoming Entrepreneurs.