Watch The Throne

Monday marked the release of one of the most anticipated albums of the year - the collaborative effort between Kanye West and Jay-Z titled "Watch the Throne." As something that Kanye had been talking about for almost 10 months, it has been on almost everyone's radar for quite some time.

The end result? I'm not entirely sold. It feels like Kanye just wanted to make some wild beats and was begging Jay to lay it down with him. The tracks all sound like something you've never heard before, which is refreshing, but that doesn't necessarily make them good.

It's been a long year for Kanye, who has been putting out free tracks every Friday for the second half of 2010. Some of the tracks were awful. Some were amazing - some of my favorite songs he's ever made. It feels like Kanye just went overboard a bit and carried those overboard tracks onto WTT.

There isn't that one song where I go "damn that's awesome" and listen to it repeatedly for the next 24-108 hours. There are songs that sound good. Not great. For example though, when I listened to "All of the Lights" I think I told everyone how good it was back in November - before it was released in January. And I couldn't stop listening to it. I still can't. I can't stand that the radio version got rid of the bridge - why do radio stations always do that? Are they afraid of the 15 second lull that might have listeners change stations?

The problem is that the expectations were just too high. Both were coming off great albums - Kanye's best, another great one for Jay - and people expect more the same when the biggest guys come together.

Part of what made their last albums great were the guest spots. Kanye's had someone on almost every song. The album just had a flow and this feeling of epic greatness to it. Like we were listening to an experience. WTT didn't do that. It was just Kanye and Jay talking about how much money/success/fame they have. There are a lot of racial overtones, anti-white/government establishments. Typical, but it feels like the suggestions are getting worse with every album. As if Kanye really doesn't understand. Or maybe I'm just offended as the people he's picking on.

Overall, fun album. Not my favorite. I'd rather listen to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy than WTT. But that also speaks to how good MBDTF was. This is also coming from a guy who doesn't like much hip hop/rap, just the mainstream stuff that everyone likes. Keep that in mind when taking me seriously (or not). Otherwise, I want music with guitars and rock n roll.

MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY

Kanye's new album leaked on the Internet this week. I tried really hard to avoid it at all costs. But I gave in. It's been a long two years for Mr. West to come out with a new album, and I'm easily tempted. Sorry Yeezy.

There's still a good chance that I'll buy the album, because it's fantastic. It's unlike anything I've heard in a while from a "rap" guy. I should preface that I don't know all that much about rap, so my opinion should be takend with that in mind.

The thing I find so interesting is that all the songs sound so different. It's not like your typical record. Some have the auto-tune and some have more guests rapping than Kanye does. It's been a interesting couple of years for Kanye as he's had more and more events that seem to go against him:

-Taylor Swift.

-South Park/Fishsticks episode.

-His mother's passing.

-Anything he says is questioned/criticized/studied by academics/conversation.

-His random Twitter outbursts that make him look more tortured/bipolar than anything else.

-The whole George W. Bush claim of Kanye's racist comment was the worst moment of his Presidency. (HUGE SIDENOTE: I could think of probably seven WORSE things that happened during his Presidency. Should I name them? Sure. 9/11. Katrina. Causing the econmoic crisis that has caused so many people to lose money and their jobs. "Mission Accomplished." Weapons of Mass Destruction. Dick Cheney shooting someone in the face. The axis of evil. If I were W., I'd be more mad at Will Ferrell's INTENTIONAL representation of him as an idiot, as opposed to Kanye's rage of emotion for one single moment.)

The point is that he's been through a ton of hard times, even for a rapper. So it got me excited to see how he's channelled his emotions into 13 tracks.

(I've debated how to start this next paragraph for 20 minutes) I'm on the fence about my true "surprise of the album" however, since almost half of his songs were released/leaked early, mainly as part of his "GOOD Friday" campaign - which I think is great for music lovers everywhere. A star at the top of his game and one of the biggest stars on the planet releases a new free song every Friday for 5 months? That's awesome. Yet since some of the songs on his album were part of the Good Friday program, I knew them before they came out.

It's good and bad I guess. Good because who doesn't love new, fresh, good music? But it takes away from the excitement of a new album when you know half the songs well in advance of the album dropping. I think overall I liked the concept, because I'm typically over-critical on new music, so the idea of listening to a brand new album can be pretty overwhelming to me, and I tend to only listen to the hit single(s). So it's good and bad is my final judgement.

Anyways, I'm starting to babble, but Yeezy's new album is fantastic. Listen to it as soon as you can, and I hop you have similiar opinions, because to me, it truly is musical genius.

No one man should have all that power. (I'm a huge dork. Bye.)

Kanye West is Perfect for Twitter

A few days ago, Kanye had over 50 tweets regarding public perception of him, his own evaluation of himself, and the VMA/Taylor Swift incident that caused recent (although almost a year ago) criticism.

Before I get too far into this, I should say my opinion about Kanye. I really believe he's one of the most talented and inspired artists out there. I would almost say he's a genius musically. He is always exploring new avenues for music that have not been written before. Every album sounds different. He took a chance on 808s and Heartbreak - and was successful with it - that you wouldn't see most artists dare to attempt. I almost believe he's bored musically, because he's challenging himself to be better and doesn't want more of the same. He's exploring other avenues as well - fashion obviously being one of his other passions. You don't usually see a straight black man adamant about creating new fashion, yet there's Kanye doing his thing. He's got very strong emotions, as you can see in his tantrums, beliefs (like the George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People), and even how upset he got over his mother's untimely passing.

He's cocky. There's no doubt about it. But he usually backs it up. He really believes that he deserves all the credit in the world for his music, and can't believe that U2 could possibly create a better record than him for the 2006 Grammys. Really Kanye? Better than U2? Good luck. Many people hate him for his brashness. I think that's what makes him so great; his belief in himself that he is the best. It's a gift & a curse. You think Taylor Swift really thought she was good enough to win Album of the Year this year? Over GaGa, Beyonce, Dave, and Black Eyed Peas? (I love/have a crush on Taylor and think she's absolutely adorable/amazing/etc but she probably would have bet on all of them but herself. That's part of what makes Taylor great though. I'm rambling.) Kanye believes he's the best. You have to respect his opinion.

There's no way around the Taylor Swift/VMA incident. He came off looking like an asshole. Everyone hated him. He was right though - Beyonce's video was the best. He just had (or created) a platform to share his opinion with the world. And look - Beyonce's video won Video of the Year. (Random tangent - how do you lose Female Video of the Year but win Video of the Year, don't they correlate? MTV is dumb.)


That doesn't make what Yeezy did right. It was Taylor's time to shine. He took that away from her. Asshole move, absolutely. He tweeted how everyone benefited from it though - and yet again, he's right. Taylor was/is clearly a rising star destined for the top, but her hysteria reached a new high following that incident. So did Beyonce's. Jay Leno certainly did for his first night. So did Kanye's. I think he summed it up best in this tweet: "Remember in Anchor Man when Ron Burgandy cursed on air and the entire city turned on him? But this wasn't a joke. This was & is my real life"

So besides 'Ye's spelling problems, it's so true. Ron Burgundy came back from his exile. Which finally (and longer than I had planned) gets back to why Kanye is good for Twitter. Kanye seems to be the rare breed of celebrity that really doesn't censor himself. He doesn't have someone talk for him. Kanye talks from his heart, without thinking rationally or about the implications of his words. At his level of celebrity, society says he can't say things like our President doesn't care about black people. His emotions told him otherwise.

Some celebrities don't speak, and if they're on Twitter, it's automated or fake or just stupid tweets. I'm not saying Kanye's are the most intellectual things out there, and it's not how everyone else (read: probably you) should tweet. But Twitter breaks down the barrier between the fan and the celebrity and Kanye can really speak to us. I saw his UStream from a month ago and was surprised at how normal he is, yet how much of a genius he is. It opens a whole new door that I think is perfect for him.

So Kanye apologized on Twitter. He's done it before. Going through all of his tweets, you can tell he has really thought about this. It's been on his mind for a while. The amount of criticism he got was unreal. I'm real excited to hear his song that he wrote for Taylor, and his new album. I don't really believe Kanye is a "changed man" - you can't change who you are. He may try harder to be a better person, but he is who he is - and that's why we listen to his music.

No one man should have all that power.

Top 5 Albums of the Decade (according to me)

So I saw Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the Decade, and found myself agreeing on some points, but clueless on some others (I really don't understand Radiohead, and never really liked Wilco.) That doesn't mean they're wrong, I bet they have better expertise than me, but I just thought it would be a perfect opportunity for my first real post. But I only picked 5 albums. They aren't necessarily my favorites, but what I think are the best.

Also, something I think to keep in mind, at the start of 2000, I was 11 years old. My music selection was pretty limited to Blink-182 and Sum41. I still listen to them today, but I was hypnotized by them.

5) The College Dropout - Kanye West

I don't claim to be much of a hip-hopper, but Kanye's first album was awesome. Previously he was behind the tracks producing Jay-Z and other's tracks. But his own album really blew everyone else's out of the water. It was the start of him on his way to becoming one of the biggest players in the game. He's featured on alot of other people's songs, and although he's REAL cocky (yo but this was the best album of ALL TIME) he's really talented, and we saw that in The College Dropout.



4) A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay


I struggle to pick my favorite Coldplay album, but when you look at the track listing, how can anyone argue against "Clocks", "The Scientist" (their best song ever in my opinion), "In My Place", among others. This album not only proved that Coldplay was better than just a one hit album, and became a phenomenon with X&Y and Vida La Vida. They're really something special, and this album really showed their brilliance.

3) American Idiot - Green Day


Okay, so if you knew me in 2004, you know that this album was the only one in my car, and no other CD was going to be played. There were so many levels of the album that appealed. The rock opera format is difficult to pull off, yet they did it brilliantly. The story summed up an American teenager from a broken home growing up in a war-torn, politically inept, country. While I don't consider myself political towards the left or the right, I really appreciate the commentary the band made on the choices the government made regarding war, and at the same time threading it into a magnificent story. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was one of the best songs of the 2005 (it was hard to compete with Kelly Clarkson that year.) Both "Boulevard" and the album won Grammy's. It was even made into a musical play, which last time I checked is a play in LA. Really a great story and a bold concept that many artists don't dare to take.

2) All You Can't Leave Behind - U2

I wasn't sold on this album when it came out (see above regarding listening to Blink and Sum41 in 2000) but over time I realized how huge this album was. Although it came out in 2000, I think everyone remembers their Super Bowl performance in February 2002, with the 9/11 Memorial featured. It was powerful and inspirational, and looking back nine years later, it's really grown to become one of their best, and swept the country with it's catchy songs, especially Elevation. Who wasn't addicted to that song?

1) The Rising - Bruce Springsteen

So again, if you know me, you know my obsession with Bruce Springsteen. It's taken over my life. But this album captured the soul of America post-9/11. For my generation, September 11, 2001 was the day that everything changed. It was our loss of innocence and freedom. For the first time in a long time, America felt vulnerable. It was a game-changer. The country needed to rebound, and Bruce provided that sense of hope that he always has, but this time America needed it. The songs were so powerful, motivating, and inspirational, it's hard to listen to it and not smile, especially for "Waitin' On A Sunny Day", and "Mary's Place." It isn't Bruce's best album, but it was definitely the most timely (of the three I've been alive for anyway)


And now the debate ensues (for the four people that read this blog)