Preview: Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Watch The Throne”

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

bad meets evil…’bout damned time..

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beh!nd the curta!n

!llmind gives you his Top 5 reasons to put your money up and cop his new album.]

 

1. Beats By !ll

The first reason I think people out there should cop it is just because it’s an album of straight, pure beats. There aren’t too many instrumental albums out right now being released on an indie or a major level. I think the game kind of needed a project like this. It needed an album of spaced out beats without taking the focus off anything else but the producer. It’s just a way to give an appreciation toward the production side of hip-hop. So that’s the first reason.

2. Extended Play

The second reason you should pick it up is because it’s something different. It’s not your usual instrumental album. I’ve included the stems to each track on this album, which hasn’t been done before. Basically, in addition to buying the album, you’re getting each instrument in .wav format of each beat. So you get all the drums, the snares, the kicks, all the piano sounds and some of the breaks that I use. You get all that individually in audio format when you purchase the album.

WATCH THE THRONE coming soon

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The Top 40: AllHipHop’s Best Albums Of 2010

Real talk, if you didn’t find what you were looking for in Hip-Hop during the course of 2010, then that’s your fault.  Some where easy to locate and others required some digging, but everything was present.  Hardcore, pop, girl rap, thug rap, old school, new school, creative, typical, lyrical, mystical, visual…it was close to being a Hip-Hop miracle.  Renaissance certainly comes to mind. Even though the overall Hip-Hip community couldn’t seem to agree on what was what, the AllHipHop Team got together and hammered out the Top 40 Albums of 2010.  It wasn’t easy and we didn’t agree all the time, but the list got finished.  Here it is. 

Compiled and written by THE BORG: Gina Torres, Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur, Steve Raze, Seandra Sims, Jake Crates and “Grouchy” Greg Watkins.

The list is in no particular order…or is it…

#1 Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West did it all this year, love it or loathe it. The rapper prevailed as the most rebellious, creative and exciting artist of the year. Simply put, while others were doing the norm, Kanye simply didn’t give a f**k – about anything but the art of his music. There was a lot of hullabaloo from so-called real HIp-Hop fans, but Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy embodied everything that Hip-Hop is. A lovely nightmare to America.

#2 J. Cole – Friday Night Lights

Of all those in the emerging brave, new generation, J. Cole is the one that has yet to have his day. Friday Night Lights, although technically a mixtape, is a gleaming example of what the North Carolinian emcee weilds in his pen. The opus offered commercial love joints with Drake and also hood rites of passage like “2Face.” Definitely one of the most enjoyable albums, which should continue to give well into 2011.

#3 Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

This year Big Boi jumped out on his own and released his long awaited debut solo project. Despite the delayed release due to conflicts with Jive, the project debuted on the US Billboard 200, selling over 62,000 copies in its first week of its release. Delivering greasy lyrics, using varied and rapid rhyme schemes , Big Boi didn’t fail to impress with this project. The ATLein featured classic funky Outkast production and appearances by Andre 3000, Scott Storch, T.I. Sleepy Brown, Yelawolf, Gucci Mane, Jaime Foxx, Janelle Monae, George Clinton, Too Short and B.o.B. to name a few but, one can only wonder when the next Outkast project will be coming out.

# 4 – Rick Ross – Teflon Don

Rick Ross solidified his star status in 2010.  With the release of his fourth studio album, Teflon Don, arguably one of the best albums of the year, Ross continues to raise the stakes in Hip-Hop.   His summer banger, “BMF,” dominated the airwaves and had everyone from your mama to your baby cousin thinking they were Big Meech or Larry Hoover.  For someone who starts his album off with the track “I’m Not a Star”, Ross is indeed the polar opposite.   

Review: Kanye West’s ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’

10/10

This is the album that we have been hearing about for months.  Anyone that was “anybody” had leaked comments to the rest of us about how good it was – how ‘Ye was back – and how this album cleared his name.  

One year ago Kanye West was an exiled American name.  Now?  He has returned with a crash that has shaken the Hip Hop world; G.O.O.D Fridays has upped the benchmark for established artists everywhere.  “You cannot deny a hit record” – this is a saying that Kanye West should very well live by.  

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a true testament to Kanye’s magnificent ability to craft and create music.

MBDTF is Mr. West’s fourth studio album – and may very well be his best.  The self-entitled “Dark Fantasy opens the album softly; acting as a scapegoat for the gritty, hard, The Infamous-esque beat that soon follows.  The song escalates throughout as Kanye’s verses grow increasingly smarter and impetuous.  (Kanye’s rhymes have become brasher and sharper while still retaining its lyrical value).    

Full Clip: Redman Runs Down His Entire Catalogue

By: kmurphy Posted 11-22-2010 2:21 pm    Redman is the consummate lyricist’s lyricist. It’s been that way since the EPMD protégé made his album debut with 1992’s classic Whut? Thee Album. Throughout his nearly 20 year-career, the New Jersey MC has taken his wild, irreverent, hilarious, and at times smoked-out rhymes to the masses. The underground MC that made good never forgot his two-fisted ‘hood star beginnings, even when he became a household name appearing on a pop smash with Christina Aguilera (“Dirrty”) and starring alongside partner-in-rhyme Method Man in the 2001’s Hollywood cult comedy hit How High. Now the undaunted MC, who has been praised by everyone from Eminem to Ludacris, is set to drop his new release Reggie on December 7^th. In between, there are plenty of stories to tell. And Redman gives more than a hit.—Keith Murphy

  

 

“Hardcore”–EPMD feat. Redman (1991)

“It all started at this club called Sensations, which was one of the biggest hip-hop clubs in New Jersey. Everybody went to it on Friday and Saturday…even out-of-towners went there. I was Djing for DoItAll of Lords Of The Underground at the time and this was in 1990. I was cutting everybody’s record from Rakim to Big Daddy Kane and I rapped on the side. So, MC Lyte was supposed to perform one night and I was going to stay home [because I had something to do.] But they told me, ‘Nah, man. Come out.’ We went down there and Lyte ended up canceling and EPMD performed. Now when I first heard EPMD’s first joint ‘You Gots to Chill‘ and later ‘So Whatcha Sayin’?’ I said, ‘I can do this!’ Right before they performed we went to the back room and talked to them. And one of the Dj’s told EPMD, ‘Yo, he’s a DJ, but he spits too.’ So they asked me to spit and ten minutes later I’m onstage with EPMD rapping!’

My boys are looking at me like what the fuck is this nigga doing? [laughs]. What is going on with this kid right here?’ Erick Sermon says, ‘Yeah, this is my new artist coming out.’ And I stopped and looked at him onstage like, ‘ Are you serious, nigga? I actually walked into this shit?!!!’ The ill part about this is I was letting my boy handle the business. At the end of the show, we went to the back of the dressing room where E was giving me his number. My hand goes to meet his hand but my boy’s hand comes in between and gets the number. But I’m like, ‘Cool.’ Because he was handling my business. But let me tell you something. Within that moment that the number was being passed I saw the paper and memorized the last seven digits. I figured the area code was Long Island.

the 7th seal

nice ass album –  haters lick me low.

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ready to die 1994

Artist: Notorious B.I.G.
Art Direction: The Drawing Board
Photographer: Butch Bel Air
Label: Bad Boy                                     

Though the similarities to Illmatic earned the artwork some detractors—Nas’ homies Rae and Ghost called out Big in a Cuban Linx skit for his shark-toothed biting—time has proven the Ready To Die artwork to be an incredibly strong image in its own right. It turns out that the kid on the cover was neither Biggie himself, nor any relative. It was just a random baby.

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‘erb music…devin the dude

dtd 1    dtd 2    dtd 3

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