subject: Watch The Throne Tour Tickets : Their Lyrics Also Exhibit Political And Socioeconomic Context [print this page] The album features themes of opulence, fame,materialism, power, and the burdens of success.Jay-Z's and West's lyrics include boasts of obscene wealth, self aggrandisement grandiosity, and social commentary. Sputnikmusic's Tyler Fisher describes Watch the Throne as "an album centered around larger-than-life egos."Andy Kellman of Allmusic characterizes much of the album's lyrical content as "ruthless flaunting of material wealth and carte blanche industry resources."
Ross Green of Tiny Mix Tapes describes it as "luxury rap", noting Jay-Z's and West's "whimsy and braggadocio."Rob Harvilla of Spin views that their lyrics express elitism, narcissism, "relentless capitalism," and "smug yet undeniable greatness."Music critic Greg Kot views that the album is about "mutual admiration" and writes of the rappers' respective personas, "Jay-Z is about imperious flow, bridging his gritty past life on the streets with his current status as a cultural tastemaker and business mogul.
West is more desperate, transparent, awkward, vulnerable." Music critic Nathan Rabin states that Jay-Z and West "are a study in contrasts: the businessman and the bohemian, the faithful husband and the drugged-up playboy, the walking press release and the loose cannon. Jay-Z is tidy. Kanye is nothing but rough edges."Jon Caramanica writes similarly, "breaking [...] old barriers is a means to acceptance and stability" for Jay-Z, while "West sounds lonely" with his fame, adding that "For Mr. West every flash of Dionysian extreme is tempered by the realization of its hollowness."
In his article "Brag Like That" for Barnes & Noble, Christgau comments that "Jay-Z is a grown man and Kanye West is not" on the album and elaborates on their lyrics, stating;Both co-kings flaunt their arrogance even by the standards of a genre where braggadocio is the main event, and neither is shy about pretending that the line of succession from Otis Redding and Martin Luther King is paved with their gold.
One could venture that maybe Watch the Throne divvies up the way it does for rhetorical purposes that one king plays the hero and the other the hedonist, two equally royal hip-hop archetypes.Nitsuh Abebe of New York views that the album is "about the relationship of black American men to wealth, power, and success. [...] a portrait of two black men thinking through the idea of success in America."
He compares the album to artist Yinka Shonibare's 1998 piece Diary of a Victorian Dandy, "in which the artist luxuriates in all the genteel pleasures of the time."Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times notes "musings on the spoils of riches and the chaos that accompanies it," adding that "[the] tension between worshiping the spirit and celebrating the bounty drives Watch the Throne .
The record questions faith while clinging to heritage and family, places this moment in an historical context, wonders on the mystery, power and confusion of the gilded life while rolling around in amulets." Writer Kitty Empire interprets it to be about "black power conceived as a swaggering taunt of achievement, in line with both men's previous works, which routinely double as shopping guides.
