Reconsidered: Watch The Throne

By Paul K. Barnes & Juwan J. Holmes

Jay and Kanye’s collaborative album set hip-hop ablaze 9 years ago. Fittingly, it continues to burn — musically and emotionally — for them, and for us.

Photos of Kanye West (left) and Jay-Z (right) transposed onto the face of a panther, as included in the Watch the Throne album artwork.

This is the first installation of Reconsideration, a retrospective column from the editorial staff of The Renaissance, taking a past hip hop project and reviewing it in the present with a new lens. This looks at the album Watch the Throne (2011).

2011. Watch The Throne changed the game, just like the duo behind the album — Jay-Z and Kanye West — did. It set the tone for how a collaborative album between two rappers could be executed with unforgettable results. It showed the world the intense power that these two rappers have — two of the most successful music artists ever — and it showed through the music itself. Expensive samples, extravagant recording locations, audacious references — Watch The Throne shows just what you can do, and what it feels like, when you’ve made it.