Five years ago today (August 8th, 2011) , Jay-Z and Kanye West blessed us with their heavily anticipated collaborative album, Watch The Throne. The project has stood the test of time as a classic album with songs you still hear to this day. We continue to “Watch The Throne” as the duo is still as polarizing as ever in the hip-hop culture.
WTT lived up to the colossal expectations forecasted by fans moving 436,000 units in the first week, and changed the landscape of future rap albums in a number of ways. Kanye and Jay broadcasted their braggadocio lifestyle, dealing with fame, racism in connection to materialism, and shed light on the political and socioeconomic problems we still see today.
The 16-track LP was ahead of its time, as most Jay-Z and Kanye West projects are. I remember hearing it for the first time at my house a couple weeks before leaving for college. From start to finish, it flowed so well sonically, and the rapping on each track was up to par. With banger after banger, the Chicago and Brooklyn natives gave me an inside look at the ups and downs of the hip-hop culture in a 55 minute journey through their point of view. I knew in my head after the first couple listens it was going to be my anthem for my freshman year at school. The album still holds a special place in my heart, as I run through it about once a month. My phone case is actually the artwork from the album cover, and I don’t plan on changing it any time soon. Watch The Throne is one of the best rap albums ever in my opinion.
There’s no denying the impact the platinum project had on the hip-hop community, as the duo continues to break down barriers in life outside rap. It’s amazing to witness two artists of Kanye and Jay’s caliber collaborate for a masterpiece at the peak of their careers, 10 years after first working together on Jay-Z’s The Blueprint.
Make sure to give the classic album a spin today.