'Watch The Throne' - Jay-Z & Kanye West [album review]

[Def Jam Records (c) 2011]

Reviewed by Imran Mirza

What can I say about this one that you wouldn't already know? Actually, let's get all the easy and obligatory stuff out the way first: Jay-Z and Kanye West, long time friends and collaborators etc etc, hip-hop icons, yadda yadda yadda... have come together to create 'Watch The Throne' - their joint top-billing project which has had fans anticipating since West's Twitter announcement late last year.  Originally conceived as an EP, at some point, you imagine enthusiasm got the better of them and the project was extended to a full album.

If I'm honest, as big a fan as I am of each artist, a Kanye-produced Jay-Z album would actually have had me salivating more than the mic-sharing project.  I think that's because they're both very different rappers and the true magic of their chemistry, for me, has really been Jay-Z backed by Kanye's ever-evolving soul-based landscapes: 'Heart of The City' from 'Blueprint', along with 'Encore' and 'Lucifer' from 'The Black Album' are the gems that naturally spring to mind.  Jay's hustler-made-good persona mixed with Kanye's ego-filled brovado doesn't naturally equate to much in common, and exploring the dominant themes of their respective past catalogues, you may find that to be true.

All of this sounds like too much of a downer and it really isn't meant to be - any time two artists of this calibre come together in this fashion, it should always be well-received as the highs - and you had to know there'd be highs on this one - can often be too good to pass up.

Launched by the Lex Luger-produced single H.A.M., the album also features further new production talent in Hit-Boy and S1, but it's the hip-hop veterans that really show you how it's done - The Rza's scene-stealing 'New Day' with a refreshing spin on the Nina Simone classic, Pete Rock weaving similar charms with Curtis Mayfield on 'The Joy', and Q-Tip and Pharrell equally shining on their James Brown sampled contributions.  Kanye, in exactly the same fashion he did for the excellent 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' amasses an awesome team to put the project together and, although he's famed for breaking new production talent, it's a complete head-scratcher as to why this marks the official first time that Jay-Z has worked with the aforementioned legends [it really is a goosebumply moment hearing Jay utter the words "Me and The Rza connect" on 'New Day'].

Fans of CD hardcopies should definitely opt for the beautifully packaged deluxe version which also boasts an additional four songs, including 'The Joy' and No ID's surprisingly solitary contribution, 'Primetime'.

To conclude with a ridiculously brief tagline that would have summed everything up in the beginning: It's better than 'Blueprint 3' but not as good as 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'!  There!