Through it all, I’m glad this blog will have more posts already in August than the month of July. It’s been a sad couple of months for relationships and still, thriving in some scenarios. It’s strange for a myriad of reasons. This album hasn’t nearly died down yet, here’s more ranting on another song and more.
The way Yeezy allows the strings to declare the beginning, like some kind of fanfare is truly creative on its own. The album is segued with these panther roars and an old sample that West inflects after/before some of the songs and here it leads into those aforementioned strings perfectly. There’s a bellowing horn and then “All engines running.” Some would call it typical, others call it amazing, while I mostly think it’s genius for artists to surround themselves with amazing artists and here, Jay-Z and West bring in Beyoncé for what is definitely one of the album’s extreme highs.
It’s the kind of song that will surely get ton of radio play once everyone realizes that behind the coincidence of the artists, the song is flawless in every kind of pop sensibility. West allows the drums to take over with more rapid snares and although people forget he’s made so many albums on his own, his drums are the magic behind his production. You see, Watch The Throne isn’t just a duo album where they phoned it in, West produces most of the album’s highest points and him and Jay-Z were relentless in ensuring they worked together, face to face. This makes for moments on the album where the energy is bursting with chemistry and brilliant skill. There’s another song that showcases that better than no other which I can hopefully mention soon.
This particular song is, for me, a highlight in Kanye’s compositional skills. The booming of the synth that background’s Beyoncé’s voice is married beautifully to the backing vocals and they all just melt away. It’s masterful the way he cuts the bass away in various parts – revealing his awkward voice and a jittery piano sometimes, or just Beyoncé in other parts – the way a true composer would take works and re-craft them to create both not just highs and lows but changes in mood, style and theme. Here it’s done with artists that are making music in the here and now. I don’t think there could be anything more terrific than that last fact: that there is gorgeous new music being made now and here.
By the way, I mean, they did whatever it took to prevent a leak. We all got to hear this and are getting to hear this exceptional album at the same time. That’s petty for most but for me, it’s astonishing. Being able to allow artists to dictate when we hear their music is talk for another day but boy, no leak, so we all get to hear it together, hell yes. – Bryan
Jay-Z & Kanye West ft. Beyonce - Lift Off from XOXOXOXOXOXO on Vimeo.
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