Watch The Throne listening sessionAugust 2, 2011
So, I went to the Watch the Throne listening session at Hayden Planetarium inside the American Museum of Natural History. It was dope. Very dope. I’ll tell you why.
Reason 1: The swindle
I wasn’t even supposed to be at the show. I got a forwarded invite for the listening session about 2pm yesterday. I immediately replied and got confirmation before I hit send. I was in a very good mood, but one of my friends warned me not to get gassed so fast. He’s used to these NYC hoaxes. In my head I’m thinking, me = Optimistic Orenthal and him = Negative Nathan.
While standing in line to attend the show, I got the word. The girl that sent out the original invites(remember my invite was forwarded to me) left her email on auto-reply. So everyone that emailed her to go to the show got an automatic confirmation. So of course when I got to the front of the line, I wasn’t on the master list. The Watch the Throne gatekeepers told me it was a mistake and that I should beat it so that the special people who were correctly confirmed for the event could come inside and enjoy the musical love child of Jay-Z and Kanye West one week before the rest of us peasants.
The gatekeepers were more like Roger Clemens on the mound juiced up to the fullest. It was nothing but strikes and homeless stew being served up to the incorrectly confirmed, dice rollers, and those looking for the C train. I stood with one of my homies enjoying the entertainment that was watching people without the juice getting curved at the door. It was also fun to watch people who had the juice perform the subtle Harlem shake once they made it inside when they knew damn well they had no business being inside.
Apparently I know the right people, because my homie came and took me straight to the front of the line. Once I got inside a few people with the power to kick me out looked at my wristbandless wrist, but I was in the vicinity of Pusha T and his clique so I guess they figured I was with them. Profiling at its finest. I would have been so pissed to make it inside only to be ushered out. Oh yeah, no electronic devices allowed. So after I went through Album Leak security and checked my phone and iPod at the door. I was in the mix baby! The liquor was flowing and swindlers salute of solidarity was in full effect was as well. Pusha T, Sean Pecas, Lyor Cohen, John Meneilly and more heavy weighters with big bank were in the building.
The 6pm session was finishing up, and it was time for the 7:30 show to begin and everyone rushed upstairs like cattle being herded to water to quench their thirst. And oh yes, everyone was thirsty to the nth degree of knowing if this album would knock or not.
Reason 2: The Hayden Planetarium
Never been here in my life. It’s a dope ass theater. Just think of a circular movie theater and the screen is above your head in a dome shape. The graphics were amazing courtesy of the homeboy Mike Waxx of IllRoots and his running mate, Mike Carson. You all know I’m a Southern boy, so I haven’t seen stars since I’ve been back home, because NYC ain’t got no damn stars. Listening to the music with the “galaxy show” as I like to call it was dope. The moon was coming at me full speed, the stars were racing away, and the sun made everything just right. Great fucking job Mike Waxx….great job!
Reason 3: The music
That’s what we were all here for right? If you are looking for a track by track breakdown hit up Jeff Rosenthal’s piece Live: People Gather To Watch Jay-Z And Kanye’s Throne, See The Stars at the Village Voice(God this guy is a great writer). I’m just going to tell you the random thoughts running through my head as I vibed inebriated to the music.
My first thought as I saw the visuals when the first song began was fuck! I don’t smoke weed, but it’d be pretty cool to be high right now. It was great music to great visuals…why not light up? The first three songs seemed like it was an immaculate hip-hop conception. Frank Ocean guided the intro song, “No Church in the Wild”. It was as if he was the matchmaker who introduced Jay-Z to Kanye. I’m not going to lie, the visuals distracted me from the second track, “Lift Off”.
Once “Niggas in Paris” the masses went ape shit and so did the visuals. That beat though?!?!? Hit Boy did his thing there. It was the perfect balance. The visuals just looked like birth…IT WAS ALIVE…it was the perfect love child of hip-hop. As cheesy at it may sound, I’ll never forget the first time I heard this song and feeling in my soul. After this song, it was a wrap. I was sold on the album.
I paid more attention to the visuals than I did the song when “Otis” came on because I’ve heard it before. “Gotta Have It” did nothing but piss me off that I had to wait another whole week to hear this song again and I felt the exact same way when I heard “Welcome to the Jungle”. There wasn’t one song that I even slightly disliked. It felt like I was on a roller coaster with no end in sight. And then….the album ended abruptly. I was a bit disappointed I wanted more.
Then I remembered Rule 35 of the 48 Laws of Power which is “Always Master the Art of Timing”. Then Rule 4 popped in my head, “Always say less than necessary”. It was the ultimate power move by hip-hop’s most powerful players. Twelve tracks was all that needed to be said. It was as if I was looking into Kanye’s eyes and he told me, You get it, no offense to those other rap regimes, but We’re the fucking best!”
Joe Puma of Complex Magazine said it best on Twitter, “I Watched The Throne”.
That’s all I got,
Ricky Writer
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