Standing as perhaps the most anticipated album of the summer, Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne came crashing onto the summer music scene with a bang. The long-awaited collaboration between the two hip-hop heavyweights broke U.S. iTunes sales records, raking in nearly 300,000 downloads during the first week of its release. But did it live up to the incredible hype that has surrounded it since the word got out about the "luxury rap" collaboration?
The question has sparked contention throughout the hip-hop world as of late; some love it, others aren't so impressed. Personally, I never expected it to live up to the hype, but I'm largely impressed with the innovation and effort that Jay-Z and Kanye present on Throne - it is a quality album that would perhaps come across stronger had the bar not been set so high.
There is certainly a mixed feel about Watch the Throne, which encompasses several genres and brings together disparate musical influences that can be seen in sentimental songs such as "Made in America" to base-heavy jams such as "No Church in the Wild." Both rappers also are renowned for their creative uses of sampling to create fresh beats, and most of Throne's strongest tracks use hooks from other songs. The Blades of Glory samples fused into "N****s in Paris" works well, and the Otis Redding loop used for "Otis" is excellent - I felt these two were the strongest tracks in the album, in part because of the excellent use of sampling.
Still, some songs don't represent Jay-Z and Kanye's best work. "Lift Off" didn't quite
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