Jay-Z / The Throne / Kanye West - "Lift Off" Featuring Beyoncé

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.

Jay-Z / The Throne / Kanye West – Watch the Throne: The Beginnings

I hadn’t bought new music in so long. I’ve been writing much much more. I feel as if it could possibly get somewhere pretty great if I really keep pushing. But I needed to pick up the Yeezy album after hearing it in entirety over the weekend. (Part of the absence comes in seeing so many movies at the Plaza Classic Film Festival. Part of me wants to write about some but part of me says not to, either way, awesome thing they have here) I heard it and was so sad I couldn’t finish all of it right then and there! It’s mind-blowing the strength that Kanye West blows into all of his albums. It’s no wonder why both the aficionados and lame masses can combine in really admiring West’s skill, this time with Jay-Z. So here are some songs from it until more digesting can be done.

By now many have probably already had enough time to blast “Otis” and hopefully we can sort out how stunning it is. The liner notes say ‘featuring Otis Redding’ and well, Jay-Z starts off by saying “sounds so soulful don’t you agree?”— and later on he asks “I guess I got my swagger back?” Hell yeah. You’d think that the bitterness of haters would tear at you til it took over (they can really be annoying as hell) but instead, West’s ability at placing the perfect samples, the perfect hooks and aligning them with something both fresh, refreshing and simply sublime – there’s nothing but genius going on here. Picking apart the way they each rap within each other’s spectrums, playfully borrowing ideas and chantingly singing together, “What more can I say?”, there is absolutely nothing but greatness going on here. Or something the other, here is “Otis,” officially:


After the ornately lush ending to “Made in America” (where the strings are left to bounce against the backdrop with absolutely zero support) there’s a brief half second pause before the intensity of “Why I Love You.” It’s fair to take the immediately catchy chorus and throw it out there:

“ooooh, I love you so but why I love you, I’ll never know…”

The ooooh is pretty important, too, because it just screams of emotion. Many of us live our lives with sordid relationships that never reach that maximum output and whatever it may be, the longing for more is felt. It’s like a wicked kind of love that teases you while never fully satisfying you at the same time either. Here you take Jay-Z and Kanye West rapping in between this hyper-melody that features Mr. Hudson’s maddening vocals and a celebratory, 80s-flowing drum machine. There are so many lyrics that jump out at you; part of the album’s greatness is how well Jay and Yeezy compliment each other. And here they are rapping about how people are fake and how the closest ones to you will tear at you when you’re least looking. It’s sad, really, how jaded we allow ourselves to get and they never cease to mention how we’re all human, all filled with flaws. There’s one line where Jay-Z questions, “What do you do when the love turns to hate?” and West quickly replies “(Gotta separate from these fuckin’ fakes).” Here they are breaking down life and relationships and showcasing their stronger-than-ever unity (The Throne) – they’re both amazingly flashy – but amazingly great, no doubt. – Bryan