RESPECT. the Classics: ‘Watch The Throne’

Last week, on August 8th to be exact, was the five-year anniversary of the Kanye West and Jay Z‘s collaborative album, Watch The Throne. This musical epic left a huge impact on the hip-hop world when it dropped. There was so much hype for the project leading up to the release date, I think a ton of people really didn’t know what to expect the from LP. What I really remember about that August 8th more than anything was how successful Ye and Hov’s teams were for keeping the album from leaking early.Which back in 2011 was an even bigger problem than it is today really.

When I first got WTT on my iTunes, I was blown away by the amount of time it went into producing most of the album. It felt as if Kanye really wanted to put his signature on this project. This was 2011 Kanye, so were coming off the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, who was at the time the biggest rapper in the game. Watch The Throne was just the album to feed the streets. Kanye was finally big enough to put out a full-length tape with his mentor. Though not as an understudy but as an equal with Hov.

This LP was one of the biggest stunt jobs in the history of the rap game. Two highly successful artists who have worked together before in this type of setting. Just never a full-length project. I remember a bunch of talking heads in thehHip-hop industry were debating at the time if Watch The Throne lived up to the hype. Few said yes because the buzz for the album was so big at the time I don’t think anything Hov and Ye put out at the time could meet the general public’s expectations.

Years later, the LP has aged nicely since its release. The tracks “Liftoff” and “That’s my B*tch” are so expertly produced that you wouldn’t realize that these tracks were produced in 2010 or 11. Then when you factor in how huge of a record “N***as in Paris” for those two. I mean think about it a song that features a racial slur in the title is used in multiple movies, fashion shows. The record was so huge, when Kanye and Jay went on the WTT tour, they performed it multiple times.

Watch The Throne is a celebration of what Kanye West and Jay-Z accomplished. These went out with the goal of making a joint album together that would inspire the next generation of Rap superstars to attain to. In that regards, the two accomplished that creating a record that would help push the culture forward. WTT is that album. The collaborative efforts of West and Hov proved to worthwhile.Watch The Throne is a timeless project that was another chapter in the long and storied careers of these two artists.

In that regards, the two accomplished that creating a record that would help push the culture forward. Watch The Throne is that album. The collaborative efforts of West and Hov proved to worthwhile.WTT is a timeless project that was another chapter in the long and storied careers of these two artists.

For more news on Kanye West and Jay-Z, keep it locked on RESPECT.