Watch the Throne
by Kanye West
  • Record Label: Def Jam
  • Release Date: Aug 12, 2011
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 766 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 625 out of 766
  2. Mixed: 71 out of 766
  3. Negative: 70 out of 766
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  1. therealness
    Aug 15, 2011
    0
    Had to give it a bad rating because of all the overhype this album is getting, when in reality it comes off to me as overproduced and rushed commercialization. there are flashes of greatness, teases of what we could have had from this project, but in the end it just doesn't mesh. the overall message of this album was opulence when hip hops fans were begging for something a little deeper.Had to give it a bad rating because of all the overhype this album is getting, when in reality it comes off to me as overproduced and rushed commercialization. there are flashes of greatness, teases of what we could have had from this project, but in the end it just doesn't mesh. the overall message of this album was opulence when hip hops fans were begging for something a little deeper. New Day is by far the best song on the album and its a small taste of what the album could have been.… Expand
  2. ast92
    Aug 14, 2011
    1
    The most disappointing album ever,this album was way over hyped and it didn't live up to its expectations,I'll even go further and say this is the worse Kanye album ever,this album had some much potential but in my opinion Jay-Z ruined it.
  3. JJBeOnOne
    Aug 23, 2011
    1
    Terrible album. I tried so hard to like it, but I just could not. The only good tracks were No Church In The Wild, Why I Love You So, and New Day. All the other tracks suck. Jay-Z has been sucking as of late, ever since Blueprint came out. Blueprint was his last good album. Kanye West dropped down after one of the greatest albums of all time with MBDTF. Sucks man.
  4. Takeda
    Jun 26, 2013
    0
    Guy is such a tool it's not even funny.
    He has no talent whatsoever.
    Seriously people if you think this is music or that this guy is anything more than a hip-hop hack, you're delusional.
  5. smokesouljah420
    Jun 20, 2012
    0
    i can't believe people like this guy. the beats are ok, not hard, acually just soft, and i just can't believe this is cool to listen 2, what about immortal technique, or anything but this, i really can't believe people would buy a kanye album or listen 2 a song or admit that they like it, id rather say i like hannah montanna then kanye, i mean seriously kanye's rap lyrics are so weeak youi can't believe people like this guy. the beats are ok, not hard, acually just soft, and i just can't believe this is cool to listen 2, what about immortal technique, or anything but this, i really can't believe people would buy a kanye album or listen 2 a song or admit that they like it, id rather say i like hannah montanna then kanye, i mean seriously kanye's rap lyrics are so weeak you would thinkl a second grader wrote them, man whatever the critics are sayin, kanye west is not cool, and neither are drugs,this album is terribel, jayz's old stuff is ok get that instead but don't buy this garbage,and user reviews i can't believe people like this , I REALLY CAN'T -1 out of 10 awful sounding, and awful music, no message, but people still buy this, i can not figure out how anyone can like kanye , i really can't… Expand
  6. JacobWaites
    Jun 12, 2013
    3
    overrated and overhyped. kanye needs to stop focusing so much on himself and more on the music. Jay Z shines here. I was disappointed to see kanye take this direction.
  7. amertume
    Jul 28, 2020
    0
    Really bad result from this collaboration, Kanye is bringing the entire result down.
  8. bushyforest
    Oct 23, 2020
    0
    The album brings nothing special, just another attempt to say something original without the power to follow through with it.
  9. Fra101
    Aug 30, 2021
    0
    It's such a boring album! That's all, just boring, nothing special. Sorry...
  10. anapopescu
    Sep 13, 2020
    0
    This album just doesn't deliver to the promise of the singles. Not even Jay Z can save a Kanye project.
  11. JohnSnow41188
    Oct 2, 2020
    0
    Unoriginal work, it feels like Kanye was trying to hard but the results did not pay out.
  12. MikeMulaney
    Nov 19, 2020
    1
    Generic music, nothing special, typical Kanye egomania top to bottom, not worth the time.
  13. somaontv
    Jul 18, 2023
    0
    For someone like me who does not really like rap did i think i would like this album absolutely not but it's probably one of my favorite rap albums to be honest favorite track Lift Off

Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Most Discussed Album of 2011
39
#39 Most Shared Album of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 42 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 42
  3. Negative: 0 out of 42
  1. Magnet
    Nov 11, 2011
    80
    They turn out to be pretty good influences on one another. Jay sounds generally reinvigorated: good-humored, full of nimble, intricate wit and atypically emotionally revealing, and if Kanye's rhymes occasionally remain as clumsy and crass as his personal life choices, he drops far fewer boners than usual. [#81, p. 56]
  2. Q Magazine
    Sep 21, 2011
    80
    Hip hop heavy weights stop squabbling for long enough to justify their star billing. [Oct 2011, p.116]
  3. Austin Chronicle
    Sep 12, 2011
    67
    That Jay and 'Ye have the courtesy to stop rapping about their money and start attacking real issues--black-on-black crime in "Murder to Excellence," raising children on "New Day"--is icing on a very expensive cake.
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