Hip-hop heavyweights Jay Z and Kanye West collaborated on a new album entitled, Watch the Throne. The idea of this album is far more than having the return of these two artists to the Hip-hop game. They come together to make a power house album that goes against the statement, “Hip-hop is dead.”
Today, Hip-hop has changed, along with society. Instead of discussing what’s going on in the world, Hip-hop is setting new trends of fashion and rise to power. Hip-hop once was a time when artists were bringing revolution to society. However, Hip- hop artists today have lost that idea of revolution. Hip-hop artists are degrading women, using financial status to become more powerful, and rewarding themselves with materialistic things. Songs on Watch the Throne have brought up concerns about Jay- Z and Kanye West’s concept of the album. Is the goal to bring Hip-hop swagger back to where it once was or is it just another album that these artists could hold proudly?
In a recent interview with New York’s own Hot 97 radio personality, Angie Martinez, Jay Z stated, “The idea of this album was to bring back the boom bap days and show that Hip- hop is changing, but changing in a negative light. It’s trying to keep up with the dance music and the pop music that the concept of Hip-hop is lost. So, with this album, we wanted to do something right and bring back the days where Hip-hop made people feel good , made you think of things that was out of place and made you want to dance.”
Indeed, Watch the Throne has brought back the days when music was good to listen to and make you want to think about issues in the world. Songs like the hot single Otis, featuring soul singer Otis Redding, remind you of the good old days when you had dance places where you could enjoy the feel of the music, when people thought about what was important, and fought for what they believed in. In the album, these two artists also paid homage to inspirational people in music and history, such as Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King and Otis Redding. These songs showed that there should be more music like this in everyday Hip-hop.
Even though Watch the Throne is focused on bringing Hip- hop back, there were still some tracks on the album that espouse the idea that it’s okay to discuss anything in Hip-hop. In a review published on August 11, Rolling Stone writer Judy Rosen said that the album is “luxury rap.” “Luxury rap” is where rappers talk about the finer things in life. In the song Lift Off featuring Beyonce, the lyrics represent what we often see in rap music. The song suggests that women have to have a man to be successful and wealthy. It also portrays the right to show off fame in music by talking about the amount of cars you own and the amount of money you have.
Watch the Throne has tracks from the past, present and future that will surely be something we didn’t expect. While some songs carry your memories back to times when Hip-hop was bringing revolution to culture, Jay-Z and Kanye West don’t set themselves apart from today’s Hip-hop artists. The artists publicize their material belongings and illustrate the idea that women hold a lower status than men. So, Watch the Throne is not pure gold royalty. It’s just another example of what Hip-hop is becoming.