Jun 17, 2025 at 11:41 AM

297. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne (2011) [June 17th, 2025]

For some reason, Kanye communities really seem to underrate Watch the Throne, which is really f---ing dumb in my opinion.

Sometimes I like to envision Watch the Throne as the middle part of a trilogy that also includes MBDTF and Cruel Summer. This whole era just radiates excess and wealth, and WTT might be the best example of this. In regards to Jay's career, WTT is set right in the middle of the decent Blueprint 3 and the terribly mediocre Magna Carta Holy Grail. Jay and Ye had already proven themselves to be an incredible duo, but that doesn't always guarantee that the record would be good (looking at you h---: the Sequel )

Thankfully though, WTT is a great record. "No Church in the Wild" is a very good intro, and the whole vibe of the record is set up from the getgo. "Lift Off" is eh, the first half is good, but the latter half is a bit boring for me. "n----s in Paris" is a classic, and it's iconic for a reason. That beat is still so f---ing hard.

"Otis" is great, but I can never hear it without thinking about Funk Flex's premiere for it lmao


The beat for "Gotta Have It" is very odd, but I still like it. The album's thematic core really starts around "New Day" which is a great song, with boy Ye and Jay delivering some deep verses over a great Nina Simone sample ("me and the RZA connect!"). "That's My b----" and "Who Gon' Stop Me" are so f---ing hedonistic, that I can't help but love them. Also,

This is something like the Holocaust
Millions of our people lost


"Murder to Excellence" and "Why I Love You" are some pretty good closing tracks, but I've never liked "Made in America", It's just like, meh for me. In regards to bonus tracks, I think they're all pretty d--- good, and "H.A.M." is OVERHATED.

Watch the Throne's themes are also very interesting. The clear divide between excessive tracks like "n----s In Paris" & "That's My b----" and slower, darker songs like "New Day" and "Murder to Excellence" is definitely intentional. I saw this theory from someone else years ago, but the little musical interlude at the end of deeper songs like "No Church In The Wild" and "Welcome to the Jungle" might serve as a commentary on how black entertainers often have to play up these hedonistic "circus-like" roles to be able to succeed, which is represented by the fact that the interlude is almost always followed by the less thoughtful tracks. I'm not black, so I can't really speak on the whole black excellence theme that's presented throughout the album, but there's definitely a lot to dive into. I still enjoy Watch the Throne a lot, and I can't wait for the sequel (It's coming....right?)

 

Jun 17, 2025 at 11:43 AM

Also, I can't believe we have like 80 versions of Hurricane, but we still don't have this grail

 

Jun 17, 2025 at 7:12 PM

298. Prince - 1999 (1982) [June 17th, 2025]

Very mixed on this one. The instrumentals are very nice, with "1999", "Let's Pretend We're Married" and "D.M.S.R." being highlights. The vocals didn't do much for me though. Prince is an incredible vocalist, but I feel like he didn't really "grab" me on this record, y'know. It's just not for me

 

Jun 18, 2025 at 8:07 PM

299. ¥$ - VULTURES 1 (2024) [June 18th, 2025]

OH BOY. In case you needed more evidence for the "Yeez had bad taste" theory, here you go.

I like VULTURES 1. It's not a great record, and if I added up all of Ye's projects it would probably end up being around like 11 or 12, but I still enjoy it actually. Not too familiar with Ty's solo work, but my opinion was largely positive beforehand too.

Let's get this out of the way first: this is far from a "deep" record. For most of V1, all you're gonna get are tracks that are mainly just a lot of fun. "STARS" is a decent intro, even if i personally enjoy "EVERYBODY" (RIP) more. Seriously, that Burger King line is so f---ing dumb lmao. "KEYS TO MY LIFE" is decent, and the Wu-Tang sample is nice. "PAID" is fun, "TALKING" is okay, and "BACK TO ME" is quotable as h---

BBTBNWDJFOTSYK

"HOODRAT" is overhated, and "DO IT" is great, YG kills that s---. I really like the beat to "PAPERWORK" and "BURN" is legitimately a great track. "fu- SUMN" and "VULTURES are fine but nothing special. I'm mixed on "CARNIVAL". I really like the beat, and that "h--- of a Life" sample is sick, but lyrics-wise it's just weird. "BEG FORGIVENESS" and "GOOD (DON'T DIE)" [RIP] are very viibey, and they're great. "PROBLEMATIC" and "KING" are decent too I guess.

VULTURES 1 is far from high concept. Aside from like 2-3 tracks, most of what you're gonna get are dumb sex jams. And personally, I think that's fine. Sure, it is weird that Ye's first project after his biggest controvery so far was....this, but it's largely inoffensive.

 

Jun 18, 2025 at 8:11 PM

Thoughts on VULTURES 2 since I don't want to relisten:
-It sucks
-Ye's use of AI is trash
- There's lots of potential present in the V1/V2 sessions, but I feel like it largely got ignored or made worse
-Nitrous

 

Jun 19, 2025 at 8:00 PM

300. DMX - ...And Then There Was X (1999) [June 19th, 2025]

Very disappointing pick for 300 sadly. I absolutely love X's first records, but I haven't really gotten into his post FOMFBOMB records aside from Grand Champ, so I was hyped to revisit ...And Then There Was X. And...it's okay.

The record starts of incredibly strong with songs like "One More Road to Cross" and " The Professional", which might be some of the best songs X ever made. You have the classic "Party Up" as well, and "What's My Name" also goes incredibly hard.

After "What's My Name" though, the album gets kinda...boring. None of the songs in the latter half are bad, but most of them leave next to no impression on me. The only exception is "D-X-L (Hard White), but that's mainly because I always love having The LOX on an X track.

So yeah, this is fine.

 

Jun 19, 2025 at 8:28 PM

301. Makaveli - The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996) [June 19th, 2025]

Without a doubt, my favorite Pac album. Don Killuminati is essentially a declaration of war, and Pac did not hold back on anybody, my God.

"Bomb First" is an amazing intro, and Pac doesn't waste any time before digging into his enemies. The Outlawz work pretty well on this record as a whole as well, but they don't really make too much of an impression. "Hail Mary" is a classic of course, and the mix of that chorus and that beat is haunting man. "Toss It Up" is a strange mix between a fun R&B track, and a harsh diss track towards Dr. Dre (or should I say Dr. Gay ). "To Live and Die in LA" is also amazing, and d---, Pac really wanted everybody to know that Dre was gay lmao.

"Blasphemy" is a great track and "Life of an Outlaw" shows the Outlawz at their best. I will admit that I've never been too into tracks 7-9, but they're decent. "Me and My Girlfriend" is f---ing amazing, and Pac talks about finger f---ing his pistol like no one else could. "Hold Ya Head" is good too, but "Against All Odds" is my favorite Pac track like, ever. This track further proves my point about this record being a full on war taunt, with Pac going at lengths to diss the following:

- Nas
- Dre
- Mobb Deep
- Puffy
- Q-Tip
- De La Soul
- Haitian Jack
- Jimmy Henchman
- King Tut
and once you add in the Biggie and Jay-Z disses earlier on the album...

The rage present throughout The Don Killuminati... is infectious, and the fact that this was released after his death, makes this record feel d--- near prophetic. So yeah, amazing record, and a Hip-Hop classic.

 

Jun 21, 2025 at 5:26 PM

302. Eminem - Encore (2004) [June 21st, 2025]

Encore sucks. We all agree on that right? Sure, it's better than Revival, but it's still not great

There are plenty of core reasons for why Encore was once considered the worst record in Em's discography. After 3 classic albums, Eminem decided to drop one of his most confusing projects ever. By now, the excuses are well known by this point: leaks, drugs, beefs, etc. But honestly, none of those reasons really defend this record that well.

"Evil Deeds" has an amazing beat and a good hook, but the verses s---. "Never Enough" is fine, and the vocal effect on "Yellow Brick Road" ruins the track for me. "Like Toy Soldiers" is great, "Mosh" probably singlehandedly ruined John Kerry's chance at the presidency, and "Puke" is meh. I actually warmed up to the stretch between "My 1st Single" and "a--- Like That" this time around, but I think it still hinders the record too much. If Encore was entirely a troll record, I would probably praise it as an Andy Kaufman-esque masterpiece, but the fact that this section is sandwiched between a mostly poor first third, and a good last third, makes it come off even worse. "Mockingbird" and "Encore" are pretty cool, but "Crazy in Love" f---ing SUCKSSSSSSSSSSS.

At least to me, the biggest issue present in Encore is the lack of a singular style. That might seem like an odd issue, but let me explain. There are essentially three different types of songs on Encore:
1. Serious TES-2003 mixtape era style tracks ("Like Toy Soldiers", "Spend Some Time", "Mockingbird")
2. Troll songs ("a--- Like That", "Just Lose It", "Big Weenie")
3. Songs that try to be serious but s--- ("Evil Deeds", "Puke", "Crazy In Love")

In all honesty, if Encore was made up solely off of serious songs, or entirely of troll songs, I would actually enjoy this record quite a bit, but the attempt at mixing these three types of songs into a project comes off terribly. The fact that this record caps off the incredible run Em had up to this point with such a s-----y outcome makes me dislike it even more. Similar to how Revival is basically the s-----y counterpart to 4:44, Encore feels like a neutered counterpart to another Jay-Z classic, The Black Album. Both are "retirement" records that follow up an absolutely incredible run from a top 3 rapper, but sadly, Encore missed the mark by a long shot. I do want to reiterate that there are some pretty dope, and funny tracks on this album, but the mix ultimately ruins the experience. The beats are dope tho!!!

 

Jun 21, 2025 at 7:44 PM

Even if I'm not the biggest fan of some of the songs, I do agree that his flow was still off the chain at this point. Like, aside from Em, there are very few rappers who could sound as slick on songs like Like Toy Soldiers and We As Americans

 

Jun 21, 2025 at 8:20 PM

I like the troll songs, but they kinda make me wish that we had gotten a full on troll album or something. I know that’s an unpopular opinion, but I think it would’ve been interesting