REVIEW: Watch The Throne, The Divine Right of Kings

Righteous album art, Watch the Throne

The announcement of Jay-Z and Kanye West's European Watch the Throne Tour and acquiring tickets has given me the push to bump the album review I wrote in August, when it was released. It's done very well, mainly because they figured out a way to amp listeners up while also discussing status issues. Remember when Kanye would frequently go on ostentatious Twitter rants? Turns out that was relevant and not the musings of a mad man without a Publicist. Note: Niggas in Paris is rinsed, but rightly so. That Mary-Kate & Ashley pun is tough, but when Kanye asserts:

What’s Gucci my nigga?/What’s Louis my killa?/What’s drugs my dealer?/What’s that jacket, Margiela? 

He is performing two jobs. On one hand, he's saluting the hood. On the other, he references aspects of luxe life in a crescendo as he graduates into higher status; second in command to Jay-Z. It's an identity game where he almost says recognise me, hood to Hollywood. During his early College Dropout days Kanye's extent of fashion awareness was limited to Louis Vuitton. A bit Mickey Mouse, he used to go by Louis Vuitton Don. But he's developed, and he wants us to know work ethic has him able to identify and stunt in Maison Martin Margiela. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Check it out:

Jay-Z & Kanye West perform Niggas in Paris over 3 times @ London 02

In a genre where flossing remains prominent, razzle dazzle is a great strategy for a rap release. Wrapped in a sparkling gold album cover with tag-team rhymes in between extended king metaphors, the  conflations of greatness that classifies Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne bedazzles listeners into an examination of their rap Kingdom. Moving from mature insights into material wealth (Gotta Have It) and justified bragging rights (Niggas in Paris), to a humanised inspection of their status as rap Gods introduced by 'New Day', the pair crush anticipations of an anticlimactic album laced in currency rhymes by driving their regal theme home: ‘I tried to teach niggas how to be kings’ (Why I Love You). Acting as lyrical instructors on how to "crawl before you ball", Carter and West claim authority, asserting that we watch and learn and prove that they are befitting kings by consistently offering creative conceptual raps, fulfilling their duties. Bow down.