#29
The Throne: “Niggas In Paris”
[from Watch The Throne / Roc-A-Fella] 

First things first: I hate Watch The Throne. I haven’t been this put off by an album that I was looking this forward to in a very long time. Everything about the album seemed destined to work and in my humble opinion, almost nothing did. Bytes and bytes of e-ink have been and will continue to be spilled discussing the level of offensiveness that’s displayed in the myriad of music released by Odd Future while for the most part, Jay-Z and Kanye West will receive a veritable hall pass for their music, most likely due to the sheer amount of time they’ve each been an industry in the world of hip-hop. Watch The Throne is a completely irresponsible record and the protagonists behind it should feel ashamed for the level of gloating, extravagance and “kiss my ring, bitch” attitude that’s displayed over the course of it’s twelve tracks. Yeah, I get it: hip-hop has long been known for it’s braggadocio, but Watch The Throne is simply out of hand. Still, if the content of the lyrics on the album had been wrapped in even remotely unique music and production, it might have been passable, but on the whole, it just isn’t. It’s uninteresting and nowhere near what we’ve come to expect from either of these artists.

The lone exception to my potentially too extreme take on the album is the Hit-Boy produced “Niggas In Paris”. Initially I was turned off by the samples the track employs of Will Ferrel and Jon Heder from Blades Of Glory, but ultimately came around to enjoy it’s usage and the message that in conveys in partnership with the lyrics. Jay and ‘Ye effectively split the difference on their respective verses, but an extreme difference exists in their approach to their current status in the world. Kanye approaches his wealth and power with an overwhelming “I deserve this” attitude. In his mind, “the throne” appears to be more than just a simple metaphor. In stark contrast, Jay-Z comes across like a small child expressing his graciousness at the beginning of Thanksgiving dinner: “If you escaped what I’d escaped, you’d be in Paris getting’ fucked up, too.” And this is where “Niggas In Paris” transcends the rest of the album not just in musical scope, but also in the actual bits humanity that swim inside of it’s lyrical content. This is a good song. Actually, it’s a great song. In the midst of another album, it’s potential to be a classic for both artists would be immeasurable.