Watch the Throne

Watch the Throne
Studio album by Kanye West and Jay-Z
Publication (s)	August 8, 2011
Label (s)	Roc-a-Fella Records , Roc Nation , Def Jam Recordings
Format (s)	CD, LP, download
Genre (s)	Hip hop
Title (number)	12
running time	46:12
production	various
Chronology of Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) Watch the Throne Cruel Summer (2012)
Chronology by Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 (2009) Watch the Throne Magna Carta Holy Grail (2013)
Single releases January 11, 2011 H • A • M July 20, 2011 Otis 23 August 2011 Lift off September 13, 2011 Niggas in Paris September 13, 2011 Why I Love You December 6, 2011 Gotta Have It March 20, 2012 No Church in the Wild

Watch the Throne is a collaborative studio album by Kanye West and Jay-Z , which the two released under the project name The Throne . It was released on August 8, 2011 on Roc-a-Fella Records , Roc Nation and Def Jam Recordings . The album is assigned to the hip-hop genre.

Emergence

The work was recorded in New York, Sydney, Paris and Real World Studios in Wiltshire , England, among others . Production took place in Paris, Abu Dhabi, New York and Los Angeles. In an interview with Billboard , Jay-Z said that they often met in hotel rooms. The last song, No Church in the Wild , was completed in June.

Chart success

With a chart entry at number one in Switzerland , number two in Germany and number twelve in Austria , Watch the Throne is the most successful work of the two artists in German-speaking countries. In the US, it topped the list as West's fifth album and Jay-Z's twelfth album, and went platinum in September. It was in 14th place in the annual charts . It set a record in the iTunes Store with 290,000 downloads in the first week.

Singles

In January the two released a digital pre- single with H • A • M , which rose to number 23 in the USA. Otis (feat. Otis Redding ) followed in July , the video was shot by Spike Jonze in Los Angeles. At the end of the year Niggas was released in Paris , the song became the most successful track on the album and landed at number 5 on the US Billboard charts. Otis and Niggas in Paris were both awarded gold in December. The next single was Gotta Have It . In addition, two airplay singles were released with Lift Off (feat. Beyoncé ) and Why I Love You (feat. Mr Hudson ). In Germany, niggas rose to number 50 on the download charts in Paris . The title was first placed in the official German single charts in June 2012 and reached its highest position six months later at number 40.

Critical review

source	rating
Metacritic	76%
Rolling Stone
Allmusic
The Observer
The Telegraph
The Guardian
Slant Magazine
The Independent
Spin
Laut.de
Focus
Plattentests.de
CD starts
CD ratings

The reviews of Watch the Throne were largely positive. The newspaper Die Welt described it as the hip-hop album of the year "thanks to the most important rapper and the most important hip-hop producer". The entertainment magazine mbeat also praised the album as a summit meeting of the most influential hip-hop icons and awarded full marks. Andy Kellman wrote at Allmusic that his best parts were among the most important rap music of 2011.

Only a few critics, such as in The Independent , commented negatively on Watch the Throne : "Sometimes it takes more than just combined star power to make good music."

Track list

1. No Church in the Wild (feat.Frank Ocean ) - 4:32
2. Lift Off ( feat.Beyoncé ) - 4:26
3. Niggas in Paris - 3:39
4. Otis (feat. Otis Redding ) - 2:58
5. Gotta Have It - 2:20
6. New Day - 4:32
7. That's My Bitch - 3:22
8. Welcome to the Jungle - 2:54
9. Who Gon Stop Me - 4:16
10. Murder to Excellence - 5:00 am
11. Made in America (feat. Frank Ocean) - 4:52
12. Why I Love You ( feat.Mr Hudson ) - 3:21

Deluxe edition bonus tracks

1. Illest Motherfucker Alive - 8:23
2. H • A • M - 4:35
3. Primetime - 3:19
4. The Joy (feat. Curtis Mayfield ) - 5:17

Chart successes

album

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2011	Watch the Throne	DE2 (5 weeks) DE	AT12 (6 weeks) AT	CH1 (15 weeks) CH	UK3 (63 weeks) UK	US1 (62 weeks) US	First published: August 8, 2011

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2011	H • A • M	-	AT56 (1 week) AT	-	UK30 (2 weeks) UK	US23 (7 weeks) US	First published: January 11, 2011
	Otis	-	AT73 (1 week) AT	CH61 (2 weeks) CH	UK28 (14 weeks) UK	US12 (20 weeks) US	First published: July 21, 2011 Sales: + 1,040,000; (feat. Otis Redding )
	Lift off	-	-	-	UK48 (1 week) UK	-	First published: August 23, 2011 ( feat.Beyoncé )
	Niggas in Paris	DE40 (34 weeks) DE	AT72 (5 weeks) AT	CH43 (3 weeks) CH	UK10 (53 weeks) UK	US5 (36 weeks) US	First published: September 13, 2011 Sales: + 4,150,000
	Why I Love You	-	-	CH52 (1 week) CH	UK87 (1 week) UK	-	First published: September 13, 2011 (feat. Mr Hudson )
	Gotta Have It	-	-	-	-	US69 (12 weeks) US	First published: December 6th, 2011 Sales: + 500,000
2012	No Church in the Wild	-	-	-	UK37 (18 weeks) UK	US72 (5 weeks) US	First published: March 20, 2012 Sales: + 500,000; (feat. Frank Ocean )

More songs in the charts

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2011	Who gon stop me	-	-	-	-	US44 (2 weeks) US	First published: September 13, 2011

Awards

At the 2012 Grammy Awards , Watch the Throne was nominated for Best Rap Album , but was defeated by Kanye West's solo album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy .

country	Certification	Sales
Australia	gold	35,000
Canada	platinum	80,000
United Kingdom	platinum	300,000
United States	platinum	1,000,000
all in all	1 × gold 3 × platinum	1,415,000

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Staff (August 23, 2011). Rap Stars mix the charts . Media Control . Retrieved August 24, 2011
2. ↑ Jay-Z & Kanye West "Watch the Throne" ( German ) In: Austrian Album Charts . Hung media. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
3. ↑ Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne . In: hitparade.ch . Hung media. 23/08/2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Keith Caulfield: Jay-Z & Kanye West's 'Throne' Sells 436,000, Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 . In: Billboard . Nielsen Business Media. August 17, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
5. ↑ http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/
6. ↑ Chart history for "Niggas in Paris" on chartsurfer.de; Retrieved Jan. 18, 2013
7. ↑ Chart history for "Niggas in Paris" on charts.de; Retrieved Jan. 18, 2013
8. ↑ Review of Watch the Throne on Metacritic
9. ↑ Watch the Throne at Allmusic (English)
10. ↑ Andy Gill: Album: Watch The Throne, Watch the Throne (Mercury). In: The Independent . August 12, 2011, accessed January 27, 2017 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart placements:
    • Watch the Throne in the German charts at OfficialCharts.de
    • Watch the Throne in the Austrian charts at AustrianCharts.at
    • Watch the Throne in the Swiss charts on Hitparade.ch
    • Watch the Throne in the Official UK Charts (English)