Kanye West & Jay-Z – Watch The Throne Cover+Tracklist

[Invincible]

Elano's cover actually doesn't come up in the OG post.

maybe because you got a shitty computer/connection 

No, its actually because you coded it wrong. I edited it. 

[bouli77]

thought exactly the same 

i hope it got a france-vibe to it...would be great!

what exactly is a "france-vibe" ?

[LodiDodi]

HAM will be the weakest album closer ever

[K.Dub]

Elano's cover actually doesn't come up in the OG post.

maybe because you got a shitty computer/connection 

No, its actually because you coded it wrong. I edited it. 

lol

[awol22222]

And based on the track titles it's sounds fucking retarded anyway.

[SCREWFACE]

i wish i could tell how good albums are just on the tracklist, must be a pretty cool skill to have.......... IF YOURE RETARDED

[OG Jaydc]

Album is set to feature rihanna and pauly d from jersey shore. Smdh

[bez]

Elano's cover actually doesn't come up in the OG post.

maybe because you got a shitty computer/connection 

No, its actually because you coded it wrong. I edited it. 

lol

lmao

[marcin1712]

i wish i could tell how good albums are just on the tracklist, must be a pretty cool skill to have.......... IF YOURE RETARDED

good line

[jeromechickenbone]

i wish i could tell how good albums are just on the tracklist, must be a pretty cool skill to have.......... IF YOURE RETARDED

How about this instead: "it's jay and kanye, you know it's gonna suck".

Does that make you feel better?

[SCREWFACE]

im a gay jew pedophile + i worship satan

[MR X To Tha Z]

this is what i found out about the album from the listening session

----------------- First Track ---------------------

- Heavy beat with lots of bass
- Frank Ocean on the hook
- "What's a mob to a god... what's a god to a king... what's a king to a nonbeliever... who don't believe anything"
- Jay has the first verse, Kanye has a second verse
- Frank Ocean has an interlude inbetween Jay's and Kanye's verse..
- GREAT OPENING TRACK


carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
1) NO CHURCH IN A WHILE-sick beat with heavy drums... frank ocean sings a hypnotizing melodic hook ... jay-z has a great verse... idk if u guys want me to ruin the subject matter its pretty sick though ... theres a sick bridge with sorta distortiony like effects... sounds like what kanye did with bon iver on monster sort of... there were animal noises in the outro too... probably my favorite song on the album it was fucking amazing


-------------- Second Track (Lift Off) -----------------

- Has a nice introduction with horns in the background
- Beyonce on the chorus (obviously)
- "Were gone take it to the moon, we gone take it to the stars..." - Beyonce
- Ye's doing his semi singing rap thing (think Runaway)
- "Showing my tattoo's suck a show off" - Ye
- Ye has first verse, Jay has second
- Kanye is on Autotune at one point...
- Samples a countdown of a NASA space launch at the ending on the song...
- It's a real banger, has good radio potential...


carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
2) LIFT OFF- really good synths beyonce has a killer hook and kanye and jay both had pretty good verses on it i dont really remember them though... should be a mainstream success... all the bitches in the room when nuts when it was playing hahah


----------------- Third Track ---------------

- Really heavy hitting type beat
- Sounded like it was produced by Swizz Beats or Lex (someone like that)
- Jay has the first verse
- Ye mentions Mate Kate Olson in his verse
- Sample from Blades of Glory movie (supposedly Kanye's a fan) "No one knows what it means, but it's provocative..."
- "You are now watching the Throne, don't let me enter the throne..."


carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
3) THAT SHIT CRAZY... HIT BOY PRODUCED its a ridiculous beat sorta like a better version of drop the world and more swagged out... samples blades of glory in one part quoting will ferrel at the beginning and goes "there is one song we will skate too... and one song only..." then the song starts... pretty dope verses from what i could tell should be a favorite its an absolute banger


------------------- Fourth Tack --------------------

- Opens up with another Blade of Glory sample "We're gonna dance to one song, and one song only"
- Ottis Redding sample
- Classic soul style Kanye beat...
- Jay and Ye take turns (think Common's Southside)
- "Made Jesus walks I'm never going to hell" - Ye
- "Jay is chillin, Ye is chill, what more can I say" - Jay

Note... this song seemed to be a favorite of everyones... it was really dope!


carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
4) OTIS REDDING... probably my other favorite song from the album... shit was amazing... soul sample for hook and chopped up the sample for the beat and it just builds up really well and is amazing... kanye has an ill verse and it is top 3 on the album


------------------------- Fifth Track ------------------------------

- Electronic Jazz sounding beat
- Female autotuned vocals at the beginning, Ye is ad libbing over them...
- "Fifthteen down the line"
- Song is all about Jay and Ye rapping about their children they'll have in the future...
- There's a sax interlude   


carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
5) not sure of the name... mentions RZA in it so i think it was produced by him... there is a piano/sample driven beat... the sample is weird at first but it meshes really well ... its sorta a weird vocal effect (the sample) and i dont really know what it was but the beat turned out very well... one of the deeper songs on the album and kanye reflects on his wrongs in life and how he wants his kids to grow up ego free and loved by everyone and jay reflects on teh drug game


------------------------ Sixth Track (Living So Italian) --------------------------

- This was the "Por ti Volare"... rapped over a loop of the vocals and everything
- Heavy hitting drum beats over the sample after about a few seconds into the track

THIS IS WHERE THE FADER ASSHOLE GOT KICKED OUT AND JAY STARTED THE TRACK ALL OVER AGAIN

- Chorus: "Living So Italian, whole family's here cause it's feeling like a movie"
- "Wrote this song on the crapper" - Ye... thanks for that line Ye...
- EPIC BANGER!!!!!




carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
6) LIVING SO ITALIAN... fucking amazinggggg... samples POR TI VOLARE!!!! no dj pauly d  ... its just a really laid back fun song and its super good i really really liked it they just rap over por ti volare basically


--------------------- Seventh Track -------------------

- Indian Influenced sample
- EPIC FIRST LINE " LOLOLOLOL White America, Assassinate my character" - Ye
- "Whats up whats up where my money at?  Do I need to come where your Daddy at?" - Jay

Sorry... didn't write alot on this song...

--------------------- Eighth Track ----------------------

- Had a dance/rave style vibe to the beat
- Sample with the words "I can't Stop"... on constant repeat at the beginning...
- Has a real dubstep influenced sound
- "Who's gona stop me huh?  You gone stop me now" - Ye
- Has a line where he talks about his dick in pig latin (haha)
- "Black cards, black cards, black on black on black bras" - Jay

Samples Flux Pavilion - I Can't Stop




carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
7) WHO GON STOP ME ... (?)...This is where i got confused two songs were played in a row and i didnt know if it was two songs or just a beat change but i think it might jsut be one super long song... the first part is a cool soul sampke and ye and jay bounce off eachother... then the second part (possibly new song?) is a ridiculous club banger sounds like lex luger but refined and sophisticated and it just gets you so hyped and kanye has distortion when he says "who gon stop me" again and again ... really great jay verse on this song


------------------ Ninth Track --------------------

- Another middle eastern/Indian style beat
- Ye is singing the chorus "... Black on black murder..."
- "In the murder capital where they murder for capital" - Jay
- At one point Ye compares the death of soldiers in Iraq to those who have died in Chicago
- There's a shift in the sound in the second half... interlude
- "Celebration of black excellence" - Ye
- "Success never smelled so sweet" - Jay


carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
MURDER TO EXCELLENCE ... sorta an african soul sample i would describe it as and it talks about black on black violence and talks about  the murders in chi town and the violence in iraq... the beat switches up part way through i remember ... dont remember what the second part sounds like tho


--------------------- Tenth Track ---------------------

- A slower style song (compared to the others on the album)
- Frank Ocean is on the hook again
- Bible and Jesus references in the chorus "Sweet Baby Jesus living in America" - Frank
- "Niggas hustle everyday for a beat by Ye... what I do? Give em all away to Jay" - Ye WIN WIN WIN


carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
9) SWEET BABY JESUS ... drum baseed beat with sorta airy zoned out synths layered over it ... frank ocean sings the hook talking about jesus and what not ... kanye has amazing verses on this song and has some good lines


--------------- Eleventh Track -------------------

- This was the sample


- "Oh I love you so, but why I love you you'll never know" - sampled chorus
- Jays Verse first
- "I tried to teach niggas how to be kings, when all they wanted was to be soldiers" - Jay
- Ye's verse second
- INCREDIBLY DOPE USE OF THE SAMPLE!!!!!

THIS IS HOW THE CURRENT VERSION OF THE ALBUM ENDS


carreralu112 on 10 hours ago
10)WHY I LOVE YOU SO... least favorite song for me... mike dean said it needs work hahahha ... the beat is sick but the hook is kinda annoying ... jay and ye have good verses though its very mediocre to me...


-----------------------------------------------------------

Some other notes:

Played random parts of throw away tracks not making the album

- Time of our life baby" - Jay
- "I need a slow motion video right now" - Ye

Then there was the question and answering session:

- "I just wanted to make an album for the sake of making a good album"
- The current version of WTT is the third incarnation of the album
- The album's current tracklist has been stripped down from alot of different tracks...
- Still not sure on a final tracklist
- He's going back and forth on including HAM as a bonus track... he admits that HAM is operatic, but almost too much to the point where the song is screaming in your face... can get irritation after awhile... doesn't really fit the vibe of WTT in it's current state...
- Admits that HAM is AWESOME in concert though
- They documented parts of the recording process, but their not sure if it will be released or not

- I asked a question about working with Frank Ocean and if that connection started before or after Odd Future's rise to fame.  He started working with him when he heard Nostalgia Ultra.  Initially it was only for his solo album, but he like Frank so much he got him on WTT... he is featured on one of two tracks recorded so far for Jay's upcoming solo album... hopefully out this winter... maybe spring

- "Hopefully my new solo album is out before J. Cole and Jay Electronica" - Jay ... LOOB!!!

- JAY HAS NO URGE TO DO ANY MORE COLLABORATIVE ALBUMS (no more BS albums with someone like Linkin Park or R. Kelly)

- Kanye initially urged Jay not to release "Run this Town" as a single first, and push "New York" because he though it would be a better single... Jay used this as an example to say even if Kanye's a dick he's really humble at the same time... he killed his verse on "Run this Town" and he still didn't want it released as a single...

Oh... he played Illest Motherfucker Alive...

[The_Ripper]

Jay-Z and Kanye West's forthcoming album may be called Watch the Throne, but soon enough fans will be listening, not just looking, and it will have been worth the wait. On Thursday night, MTV News was among the shortlist of media outlets invited to get an early listen to the power duo's collaborative project.

The listening session was held in the Mercer Hotel, where the New York Post previously reported that parts of the album were recorded. Though it was originally set to begin at 8 p.m., Jay-Z walked into the hotel lobby closer to 9 (word is he was at a Yankees game hoping to see Derek Jeter get his 3,000th hit). The group of journalists followed the rapper up to a suite that had been transformed into a recording studio. Seated in the rear of the room, wearing a Yankees snap-back hat and crisp, white shell-toe Adidas, Hova balanced a MacBook Pro in his lap. After asking those in attendance to introduce themselves, he got right into playing selections from the album, loudly.

Standout tracks included a pair of songs that feature Odd Future crooner Frank Ocean. Jay-Z relayed that he reached out to Ocean after hearing his Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape and wanted him to contribute to his next solo album. After their initial work went well — Ocean appears on one of two songs Jay-Z revealed he has recorded for the solo LP — Hova invited the crooner to get down on Watch the Throne too. The only other guest on the album is Beyoncé, who appears on the resounding "Lift Off," which sounds like it was tailor-made to be performed in large stadiums.

On another particularly interesting song, Jay-Z and Kanye deliver verses directed to their hypothetical unborn sons. (Note: Jay-Z's press representative asked that lyrics from songs not be quoted.) The Brooklyn MC recalled that Yeezy first recited his verse to him at New York's Museum of Modern Art. "I told him I wasn't going to get on it," Jay-Z told MTV News of the song, adding that he thought Kanye's verse, running down his myriad past mistakes, is one of his best ever. "The honesty of it, it's just really cool."

Throughout the album, Yeezy holds his own when rapping alongside Jay-Z, a lyricist of the highest caliber. Other standout tracks that feature the duo trading rap bars include a song whose beat features a chopped up Otis Redding vocal sample that many requested be played again. Another song called "Living So Italian" also got a favorable response from the room.

Jay-Z played over a dozen songs and said that he hoped to finalize the track list by this weekend. He also admitted that the album is actually on its third iteration. Initially, he and Kanye were looking to make a grandiose project with elaborate songs, but they felt that doing so would take away from its enjoyment, so they chose to pare it down sonically.

"It's just so big and so much, you don't want that sh-- screaming in your house," Jay-Z said, referring to their early single, "H.A.M." "If we don't make records that we like and represent the culture, we would be over."

The room didn't start thinning out until near midnight, and as the session winded down, Jay-Z started playing additional tracks, including a song whose lyrics seems to hint that it was produced by No ID. Nodding his head along to the knocking grooves, he also played a song that features Swizz Beatz that he said probably won't make the final cut.

Back in January, MTV News' Sway sat down with West, who teased the Watch the Throne project, saying, "We going to the South of France at the end of this month just to record new ideas." And late last year, when we caught up with Jigga, he explained the long history between him and 'Ye. "Kanye, he's really like a brother to me, I've seen him from the beginning to where he is now, and to see him as a producer and how he's grown as a producer and and artist, you know, for me, on another level it's enjoyable."

[The_Ripper]

(ALLHIPHOP "REVIEW")
On July 8, 2011, Jay-Z hosted an intimate listening session for the looming, game changing, genre bending Hip-Hop opus Watch The Throne. Roughly 20 people were invited to the exclusive event, which interestingly enough included the two teenage New Yorkers that purchased the first two copies of the album on Amazon.com's preorder. They were there along with their parents, who were gracious enough to tolerate a long evening for the sake of their kids. Where to begin? There was so much to absorb of the evening so I'll write this similar to the way Watch The Throne was crafted...free-flowing and without rules.

There were some ground rules for the session though. 1) No live tweeting. We could say we were there and that's about it. One journo from The Fader was kicked out with the swiftness for tweeting specifics. 2) No quoting exact lyrics in write ups. Why? Because, although we heard a lot, Watch The Throne is not finished. Lyrics may change. 3) No specific song titles. They aren't set either.

So, here is the song-by-song rundown of Watch The Throne.

Song # 1

In the first song, Beyonce completely blasts off to a beat laced with heavy synths. Kanye bursts onto the track, weaving in and out of autotune and various vocal distortions. Very off beat, but in a good way. Jay-Z follows up flowing to very short or truncated verses. Clearly, Beyonce is the ancho to a song that ebbs and flows until it blasts off in a spaceship counting down. (This was actually the second song, but the first seemed to be a partial record that got hacked off.)

Song # 2

Bouncy is the first word that comes to mind with Song # 3. The track almost sounds like a traditional southern Hip-Hop record. Jay's flowing much faster, sort of in the vein of "Big Pimpin'." Jay's rapping double time and then yields to 'Ye, who raps at a slower pace. The song concludes with the crash of a slowed down menacing beat, reminscent of 80s instrumentalists Art of Noise.

By now, Jay is bouncing to the beats that he's manning the session from the Mac Book. He stops most of the songs abruptly even.

Song # 3

The fourth song begins with a long, bluesy Otis Redding sample...which gets chopped up lovely. Jay and 'Ye go back and forth, almost bar for bar. Straight spittin.... I personally felt is was similar to the way Biggie and Jay spit over "Brooklyn's Finest," but my homey Aqua completely disagreed. Nevertheless, they went in.

Song # 4

Or is that song 4? Anyway, the next song was wrought with melancholy if you only went according to the track. Upon further examination, Jay-Z and Kanye trade lyrics about raising their future kids. To attempt to regurgitate the content wouldn't do the song justice. The song is a very honest and vulnerable look at something the pair long for, but not commonly addressed.

Song # 5

had the whole room bobbing their head in unison to a slow, dragging epic track. Feels European, the United Kingdom to be specific.

Song # 6

This one was a joint where Kanye and Jay rap over a singer's voice trading bars every 2-4 lines.

Song # 7

This song was my absolute favorite. The beat went super hard with Kanye and Jay asking aggressively, "Who gon' stop me, huh?" This song was rooted in a bassline that was deeply monophonic. At the end, the pair throw the listeners for a loop and jump off the path. Suddenly, the beat changes, random instruments come in and out of this living, breathing song.

Song # 8

Song 8 feels very African in nature. Kanye comes in singing for a couple bars and then Jay starts rapping. Interestingly enough, they are rapping about Black on Black violence. Black Panther Fred Hampton gets a mention. An unlikely positive song.

Song # 9

Sounds like Frank Ocean is the new golden boy...maybe? Malcolm X, Betty Shabazz, Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott get nods on song 9. This inspirational song references Jesus and centers on making it as a success in America. Kanye used a particularly clever metaphor. He raps about making his beats and selling them to Jay at the early part of his career. But they says he now "gets high on his own supply," the dope being his own music.

Song # 10

Number 10 offers the operatic synths laced with a rock sample talking about love. The track goes hard. The beats elevates and suddenly...the album is over. The ending is more abrupt than anything I've ever heard.

Epilogue:

Jay gets asked if this version of the album was the regular or the deluxe version. The Brooklyn don doesn't speak on it. He simply cues up two more songs that knock. Jay then says, "Does that answer your question?" Room explodes into spontaneous laughter. Jay also let the room hear a song with Swizz Beatz that he admitted might not make the album. He also indicated that "H.A.M.," the first song he and Kanye released may not make the album either.

Overall, Watch The Throne is one of the most interesting pieces of Hip-Hop I've heard in a long time. Many people asked is it "classic" or is it "dope as expected." I believe, to properly enjoy the album, they are going to need to shed expectations and erase what they know. I already can see there will be a segment of the population that simple will not "get" this album.

But, that is the beauty of Watch The Throne. Everybody won't love it and others will swear by it. It will be the topic of debates and hate. Through it all, its very cool to see Hip-Hop artist evolving creatively. Fearlessly.

[The_Ripper]

BILLBOARD

Jay-Z held a private listening session for "Watch the Throne," his highly anticipated collaborative album with Kanye West, last night (July 7) in New York City.

The listening was held in a suite on the second floor of the Mercer Hotel, in SoHo, and lasted for roughly three hours, with Jay-Z playing eleven songs from an Apple laptop for a select group of music journalists and two teenage fans who had won access to the session for being the first two customers to pre-order the album through Jay-Z's lifestyle site, Life and Times, which began accepting pre-orders on Monday, July 4. Kanye West did not attend.

Following the eleventh song, Jay-Z invited those in the room to have an informal conversation that lasted for about an hour.

"We can have a conversation," he said. "I don't want to do an interview. Put your pads away - we can talk all night."

He then played snippets of at least three other songs, including one featuring producer Swizz Beatz, that may or may not be included on the album. Other songs that have been rumored to be on the album, including the single "H*A*M," which was released in January, and "That's My B*tch," which appeared online late last year, were not played. Frank Ocean, the Def Jam singer and Odd Future affiliate, appeared on two of the initial eleven songs played, while Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce, appeared on one.

Jay-Z suggested that a video for the song featuring Beyonce, tentatively titled "Lift Off," could appear, but that he was reluctant to follow a traditional, single driven release for "Watch The Throne." Jay-Z would not confirm a release date for "Watch The Throne," saying only that the album would come "soon," and no information was given regarding how the album would be released or through what label or combination of labels.

Jay-Z also said that he already had two songs completed for his next solo album and four additional concepts in mind. Frank Ocean appears on one of the songs already completed, and Jay-Z said he hoped to capitalize on the burst of inspiration provided by the "Watch the Throne" and continue recording for his next solo project. He would not speculate as to when that project might arrive.

First announced late last summer via Kanye West's Twitter feed, the "Watch The Throne" project has been the subject of much rumor and speculation. While celebrating in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve, Kanye suggested that the album would arrive in January, but instead January brought the single, "H*A*M," and no album. The album was then said to be arriving in March, and then in June, it was announced that the album would arrive on July 4.

Although Monday brought no sign of the album, fans could begin pre-ordering the project through the Life and Times site, which redirected to an Island Def Jam page where the deluxe version was made available for $16.99, standard CD for $13.99, a deluxe digital version for $14.99, and standard digital album for $11.99. MTV's RapFixLive reported that customer receipts listed the ship date as 2011-08-02. Last night, Jay-Z said that he did not know how the July 4 release date rumor had originated.

Jay-Z arrived at the Mercer Hotel shortly before 9 p.m., after coming directly from Yankees Stadium where he had been watching the New York Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays and hoping to see Yankee captain, Derek Jeter, get his 3,000th hit. Jay-Z was wearing a white tee, a New York adjust-to-fit hat turned to the back, jeans, and his signature white on white Air Force Ones. Guests were escorted to suite 208, where seating was limited and some in attendance were forced to stand. The room featured an entire studio set up, including a mixing board and mics.

Jay-Z sat at the head of the room and played songs from a Mac laptop. Guests were served champagne from the house that Jay-Z owns, Ace of Spades, and offered cheese and crackers. Before playing songs, Jay-Z asked those in the room to introduce themselves and then asked if those standing in the entryway wanted to come in, joking, "Sit on the floor, we can make it like camp."

"I think we should just play some music," he said, by way of introduction, and then he played eleven songs back to back without breaking to offer any details on specific songs.

Although many guests at last night's listening session had been given the impression that they would be able to live-tweet the event and their reaction to the album, those in attendance were told not to use Twitter during the session and to avoid quoting direct lyrics in their reviews, as songs and presumably verses could still change. Guests were encouraged to take notes, however, and were offered RocNation notepads and pens. The session was briefly interrupted when one media rep was removed from the room shortly after the session began for live tweeting his reaction to the songs being played.

The songs were dramatic and boastful, with Jay-Z often taking the lead lyrically, and the collection showcased the differences between the two artists - Jay-Z, the technical marksman, and Kanye, the emotive chest beater. Jay-Z said the two began recording the album last year in England and had recorded in Australia while Jay-Z was on tour, as well as in New York, Paris, and Los Angeles, often in hotel rooms. At least one of the songs played was recorded at New York's Tribeca Grand.

Following the eleventh song - a dramatic record about loyalty featuring several sonic shifts, closing in a barrage of strings that spike to an abrupt end - Jay-Z said "that's how the album ends," and then he opened the floor.

During the informal conversation, Jay-Z said that the album had gone through three iterations and that he and Kanye had scaled back from their original direction, which was even more dramatic and calculated than the songs played last night. "H*A*M" was reflective of that direction, he said, and he said that he had been reluctant to release that record. In retrospect, he said, the first song released from "Watch the Throne" should have been a three-minute song built on Kanye and him simply trading verses, no hook.

Jay-Z also talked about the difficulties of the collaborative process, and said that he wasn't in a hurry to do another collaborative album because of the intense arguments that erupt during the process. Still, he said that he respected Kanye's passion and hinted that more than one Watch The Throne sequel could come in the future. He also said that Kanye had originally argued against Jay-Z releasing the "Blueprint 3" single "Run This Town," when he became convinced that the song wasn't a hit after watching the reaction to the record at a barbecue hosted by the DJ Enuff led DJ collective, the Heavy Hitters.