I woke up at three in the morning and this is somewhat fueled by insomnia. This is an unedited rant.
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The reviews for Jay-Z & Kanye’s ‘Watch the Throne’ album are out. The cover of the album is a Givenchy design, a cloth pattern covered in gold. The album open’s with the lyric:
‘What’s a mob to a king
What’s a king to a god,
What’s a god to a non-believer?”
Jay then proceeds to deliver a verse peppered with images of blood in a colosseum, lying priests, god’s love for the pious, the idea that in matters of rhetoric one seeks to attract the bias of another.
And then - he raps about money.
Kanye’s verse opens with lines about starting a new religion, one with no sins ‘as long as there’s permission.’
And then - he raps about doing drugs and partying.
The song is rather nihilistic in it’s own way - a rejection of theism (‘what’s god to a non believer’) and as most of the album’s critics have proposed, and a turn to a vulgar display of power. Money, cars, women, jets.
As I’ve read say, Greg Kott’s Tribune review (http://goo.gl/YqOdZ) or this one in the Washington City Paper by Ramon Ramirez (http://goo.gl/Uh9qK), people are offended by the idea that in this time of global economic strife and American political deadlock that these two rappers would dare think of themselves as kings and spend an hour or so bragging about how good they have it.
And as I read this commentary, I look back to the lyrics that open the album. A mob is a group of people who may or may not threaten the power of a king. Most often, the mob is easily placated and not a threat. A king may be thought of as god’s representative on earth (I’m thinking about the idea of ‘divine right’ here in which the king is thought of as god’s representative on Earth), ‘what’s a god to a nonbeliever’ - and again that’s the line that set’s up the whole album. Jay-Z and Kanye walk through the door of nihilism to revalue what we think of as valuable. Remember, Kanye’s verse starts off with the idea to create a new religion without a concept of sin.
The album is about power. That’s what offends people. The idea that these two young black men would have the audacity to flaunt their wealth in a time when so many have none. And I guess I’m asking - so what? I think their nihilistic narrative of making a lot of money and having a lot of fun in such a dark time is an interesting narrative. Songs like ‘No Church in the Wild,’ ‘Niggas in Paris,’ and ‘Otis’ are about the spoils of creativity. They created things in the world, be it Jay’s forays into the crack game, Kanye’s fame based on self-created controversy and how they can basically do whatever they want now.
Critics on the other hand, and others are up in arms that these two would dare to revalue their morality. A person on Facebook writes:
‘Ye should have just released another solo effort or produced an album for BlackStar. Listening to Mos & Talib with a number of guest appearances by Common & Nas and production by Kanye would have done the musical universe a much better service in my opinion.’
The implicit idea here is that Mos Def and Talib Kweli are on an higher plane, aesthetically and philosophically than Jay & Kanye. I think that implicit notion misses the point. Jay & Kanye are saying that they see the world as a place of an inherited set of values - which they will turn away from and create their own. It’s an album that displays a real politik sensibility. In such a time of global panic and political deadlock, isn’t this a more realistic survey of the world we live in? What makes a Talib & Mos Def song loftier in this respect?
Chuck D has replied with a retort of the song, ‘Otis’ (http://goo.gl/DKyNu) where his narrative is basically, ‘there are poor unemployed people out there/ how dare you write about power.’ And I think from what is in the Watch the Throne album, the retort would be, life is absurd and initially devoid of meaning, make it what you want, and have fun.
