Preserving The Throne For Hip-Hop.
Hip-hop has aspects to it that other genres simply do not have. If someone asked me to sum up hip-hop culture in one word, i would without a doubt say “COMPETITON”. This is what hip-hop was built on. You can go back to the orgins of New York underground rappers battling in the park. Something that is different with hip-hop is its not just about the sound of your voice. You really are fitting words to a puzzle. As the beat continues you have to keep pace all while attempting to say something meaningful. In a battle its not about who can rhyme about what they did today. You attack! and you dont stop at your opponents rhyme skills. A rapper will go for your mom, your car, your clothes, ANYTHING. The very foundation of hip-hop is that there can only be ONE winner. This very concept is one of the reasons hip-hop has propelled itself into the power genre it is presently. Classic battles like Nas and Jay gave America the equivilent of a unblocked view of a battle circle in a NYC park. That battle to me is the best in rap history because it simply was about who is the best. These MC’s put classic diss rhymes in their collective heavy hitting diss tracks. It was SO authentic and it was no holds barred. They talked about everything from the other person being ugly to leavin condoms on their opponent (nas) kid’s baby seat. It was later revieled that Jay actually did have sex with mother of Nas’ child (thats how deep it can get). Popular battles like that only pushed the competitive landscape of hip-hop. You wont hear two rock, r&b, soul, country, or any other genre of artist attack another person in the way hip-hop artists do. In hip-hop another artist attacks and literally is trying to interfere with how you eat. Look at what happend to Ja Rule. When you lose in hip-hop there is no rematch and there are no undercards, ITS OVER. Hip-hop steadily has evolved over time and the present competitive spirit in hip-hop is probably at its highest.
“They take the greats from the past and compare us….I wonder if theyd ever survive in this era…at a time where its recreation to pull all the skeletons out your closet like halloween decorations”- Drake (Lord Knows)
So back to why the significance of Watch The Throne is not fully being recognized. It simply is NOT in a rapper’s mentality to share a pedistal. Rap is kill or be killed and the limelight is something that is rarely split. So now take a rapper like Jay-Z. You can say what you want about where he is in your top 5 of all time, but just know he IS in your top 5, ever. Now take Kanye. Everyone inhabiting this planet knows about this man’s ego. A person so musically gifted to where he can rap and produce a whole album by himself and each album would transcend social/economic barriers.
Doctors say im the illest…cuz im sufferin from realness- Kanye (Niggas In Paris)
So do you think its easy for two people with their artistic creativity, reputations, and egos to work with another artist on an entire album? Now add in the fact that they are both artist in the ultimate audio battle field that is the genre of hip-hop. Its seriously amazing to me. I recently went to The Watch The Throne concert and it really was a rap lovers heaven. They didnt need to do this, they did this for hip-hop. I recently heard Jay say in an interview that the album was titled Watch The Throne because of the direction that hip-hop is heading. The commercialization of hip-hop is causing it to lose its organic roots. Rappers now ONLY try to make a name for themselves by name droppin, talking about how many girls/gun/goons they have. Once upon a time it was authentic but now it is starting to lose it. These two titans of rap took it upon themselves to work TOGETHER to give social commentary, party joints, deep songs, and more. Showing the diversity of hip-hop and i really think they did a great job and it isnt being recognized like it should be.
Now im on the Beatle’s ass….Niggas Watch The Throne, yea its like The Beatles back…Bey be my Yoko Ono, RiRi complete the family….imagine how thats gonna look front row in the grammys!- Jay-Z (Illest Motherfucker Alive)
Gotta Have It by Jay-Z & Kanye West posted above
