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Spike Jonze directs Jay-Z & Kanye video for "Otis"

post #1 of 23
8/12/11 at 9:22pm
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post #2 of 23
8/12/11 at 9:41pm

I honestly can't decide if this song (and by extension the video) is fun or offensive.  Well, maybe not offensive, but it's almost a little staggering to hear them get THAT blatant about how much money they have and spend.  That Maybach in the video cost $350,000.  They're both SUPER-savvy dudes and it's perplexing that that's the angle they'd take with everything that's going on.  I dig that they're gonna auction it off for charity, but in terms of tone and perception?  Yeesh.

 

But on the other hand, the amount of pure, unadulterated fun they're having is infectious.

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post #3 of 23
8/12/11 at 10:31pm
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I read a review where the person thought them stripping down the Maybach is a metaphor for Jay and Ye stripping down the aura of their fame and fortune, laying themselves bare. Which also fits with the stripped down, minimalist style of the video. But even if that is just someone reading too much into the video, I can't hate. The only thing those two know how to rap about is how famous and rich they are. What better way to demonstrate that then to literally throw away $300,000 by destroying a luxury car?

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post #4 of 23
8/12/11 at 10:38pm

Actually I guess it could work that way.  I kinda saw it as "Yep, we dropped over a quarter of a million on this thing just so we can trash it and cut donuts in a parking lot.  Kinda like the luxury car equivalent of lighting your cigar with a hundred dollar bill.  But yeah, definitely can't hate.  The song's a blast.  "Photoshoot fresh, lookin' like welath, I'm about to call the paparazzi on myself."  How can you not love that?

 

Also, is Jay's face puffier than usual?

 

Also also - a lot of reviews I've read have West as the week link.  Wut?

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post #5 of 23
8/12/11 at 10:41pm
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This is the only song I've heard off of the album so far. But yeah, I've seen reviews saying Kanye is slumming. Maybe he got intimidated being around his "big brother".

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post #6 of 23
8/12/11 at 10:53pm

I don't see it.  Granted, it wasn't a FOCUSED listen, but I played through it on Thursday (maybe Wednesday) and if anything Jigga's in a slump.  Maybe it's just me carrying baggage from the fact that Jay was the worst part of "Monster" but he ain't the Jay-Z I grew up with anymore, whereas Kanye's on fiyah.

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post #7 of 23
8/14/11 at 9:46am
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This reviewer thinks the album is a big, fat failure. And that Jay outraps Ye:

 

 

Quote:
Jay seems rejuvenated or at least re-motivated here, bending cadences in a way he hasn’t since he realized that the technical superiority of Blueprint 2 wasn’t as marketable as the simple sentimentality of its predecessor. He’s rusty sometimes, but he’s trying. (Better rusty than his drab whisper flow.) Kanye sounds a little more subdued than usual, understandable given the violent catharsis of his past two LPs. Or maybe it just seems that way because of the contrast. Jay has a naturally better rap voice and, even in his late-career malaise, knows how to move around a track more comfortably than his protégé. This is particularly obvious when the duo splits verses into tag teams, like on the Neptunes-produced “Gotta Have It.” Every time Jay passes the mic to Ye for a bar the track deflates a little.

 

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post #8 of 23
8/14/11 at 10:54am

Like the album a bit (the opener "No Church in the Wild" is awesome), but this song I just don't understand.  Is there even a hook?

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post #9 of 23
8/14/11 at 1:08pm

Don't worry guys, the trashed Maybach is being auctioned off, with proceeds going to East Africa. 

 

The video's great, although Aziz Ansari is utterly surplus to requirements (can't decide whether or not he's trying to look like a tool when he dances). Love how Jonze can even make a baseball cap flying off Jay-Z's head look cool as fuck.

 

As for the album... I'm still letting it sink in, but so far I'm a little disappointed. Lyrically, there's little to write home about (although Kanye, who's always been the heart-on-his-sleeve kind of guy as opposed to Jay-Z's aloof smart Alec, may have purged himself on his last album), and it's a bit much for the duo to put Nina Simone through the Auto-tune wringer after Jay-Z long since declared the 'Death of Auto-Tune'. It's cool in places but definitely not a game-changer, and 'H.A.M.' is one of the worst hip-hop acronyms ever.

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post #10 of 23
8/14/11 at 1:13pm
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Originally Posted by Ricardo Brady View Post
'H.A.M.' is one of the worst hip-hop acronyms ever.


This I agree with completely but goddamn if I don't just wanna have sex with the production on that track.

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post #11 of 23
8/14/11 at 1:15pm
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I think Aziz knows what he's doing.

 

 

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post #12 of 23
8/14/11 at 1:36pm

Oh, I know Aziz (who I like, by the way) is Kanye's pal because -as those clips attest- he never stops going on about it.  I still think he pulls off the unlikely trick here of looking both utterly anonymous and conspicuously awkward.

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post #13 of 23
8/14/11 at 2:10pm

I guess for me, this album was always going to fall short of the hype. Despite its high points ('Otis' is as good as any hip-hop single in 2011), it fails to embody the fact that, ever since they teamed up 10 years ago on Jay-Z's 'The Blueprint', these two have made each other better. 'Big Brother' Jay seemed to inspire Kanye to up his lyrical game, while Jay seemed to broaden his musical tastes  and overall aesthetic (cardigans included) in order to keep up with Mr. West's insatiable pop art adventurousness. At worst, the union gave us Coldplay cameos (and arguments about who was first to discover Chris Martin & co), but overall Jay and 'Ye have really pushed each other to greater heights - it's a shame 'Watch The Throne' doesn't have more of a sense of friendly competition.

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post #14 of 23
8/14/11 at 2:33pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricardo Brady View Post

Oh, I know Aziz (who I like, by the way) is Kanye's pal because -as those clips attest- he never stops going on about it.  I still think he pulls off the unlikely trick here of looking both utterly anonymous and conspicuously awkward.


Yeah, I think that's Aziz's stchick. In the first video, he talks about how he doesn't belong in the club next to Kanye. He likes playing up the awkward sidekick.

 

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post #15 of 23
8/14/11 at 6:00pm
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Ghostface Killah reviews "Watch the Throne". My favorite bit:

 

 

Quote:
Lift Off (ft. Beyonce) – I almost aint wanna even comment on this shit son…. I dont even kno what to say bout it yo. This shit sounds like the anthem the fairies in Ferngully would use to go to war against evil humans to or some shit b. This shit is like Shia LeBeouf in song form yo. Lissenin to this shit is like havin ya ears penetrated by a million microscopic dicks namsayin. Shit sounds like niggas doin aerobics on a magical cloud of daisies.

 

 

Bahahahahaaha!

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post #16 of 23
8/15/11 at 4:34pm

 

Great find, Diva. Ghost's critical appraisal is hilarious. Loved (and wholeheartedly agree with) this:

 

 

Quote:
Otis (ft. Otis Redding) – First off they need to not be actin like Otis Redding is a “featured” artist on this shit. Since when do niggas sample a dude n then call that shit a feature. Son aint even been alive for like 40 years b.

 

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post #17 of 23
8/15/11 at 6:10pm

That wasn't Ghostface Killah.  It's Big Ghost- yeah, I'm not sure who he is either, but it's not Ghostface.

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post #18 of 23
8/16/11 at 8:07am
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Really insightful review of WTT. It makes me want to relisten to the album with more intent. Some highlights...

 

 

"No Church in the Wild":

Quote:

Towards the end of "No Church In The Wild," right before that strange Jon Brion-esque interlude, Kanye builds up the track to a whirl of animal noises (birds squawking, a lion growling), primal screams of pain, and police sirens. By merging the sounds of nature with those of the streets, he foreshadows "Welcome To The Jungle," Jay's empathetic critique of gang culture. The narrative of Watch the Throne is that the Throne has escaped the "jungle" of the streets only to find themselves in another that's even more corrupt and terrifying: the world of the rich and powerful.

 

There isn't actually all that much "We rich!" triumph on this album. Reading some reviews, you'd think it was just 12 tracks of something like this. Yet even at it's most aspirational and expensive, WTT remains melancholy, and that feeling extends beyond Jay and Ye's update on rap's "Mo Money, Mo Problems" meta-narrative. The album even deigns to address the plight of the urban poor, who obviously will never have it like Jay and Ye.

 

"Lift Off"

 

Quote:
Listening to WTT, it's quite clear Jay and Kanye are political conservatives in the sense that they believe in capitalism and espouse a "boot- strap" mentality. But it should be noted, this quite a lived-in and racially aware version of conservatism. That makes them not all that different from working-class, regular guy rappers like G-Side or Big K.R.I.T., who express a similar disgust with institutionalized racism, while leaning heavily on their own from-nothing come-ups. The Throne aren't torn up about how much money they have, but they're upset that their success doesn't extend to all that many people (especially black people), and they're mindful of the fact that they owe much of their success to those who are less fortunate.

 

"Niggas in Paris"

 

 

Quote:
Jay and Kanye titling this song "Niggas In Paris," speaks to a W.E.B. DuBois-ian "double consciousness" that permeates much of the album.

If this is a party song, it's a very self-conscious one, in which the Throne don't just see themselves as wealthy guys acting like assholes in the city of lights, but as "niggas in Paris," painfully aware of how whites perceive their partying. There's a really odd, but touching moment, when Jay exclaims, "I'm shocked too / I'm supposed to be locked up too," like he puts his drink down and looks over at Kanye and it hits him that he's not dead or in jail but acting a fool in Paris Fucking France. Even partying is knotty, and a little uncomfortable, for these guys.

 

 

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post #19 of 23
11/19/11 at 2:18pm

I might get flamed for this, but I think WTT completely and utterly sucks, and that these guys are coasting on good will.  I can't remember the last time I had such a negative reaction to an album. 

 

Niggas In Paris is the only thing salvagable from this mess.

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post #20 of 23
11/19/11 at 2:50pm

I've cooled on it a LOT and can't remember the last time I had any urge to do a full playthrough, but "Niggas in Paris," "Otis" and "H.A.M." still do it for me.  Childish Gambino's "CAMP" is far, far more worthy of the time.

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post #21 of 23
11/19/11 at 3:13pm
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Nah, no one would argue. They were both coasting on this album.

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post #22 of 23
11/20/11 at 1:45pm

I'd say It's a mixed bag for sure, but half of the tracks are really strong, especially the first half. Other than the Beyonce song, the first six six or seven songs are great. I think the bonus material is pretty much shit, though. The Joy is solid, but it sucks that Kanye and Jay ripped of Syl Johnson. 

I'm surprised more people aren't digging No Church in the Wild. One of the best album openers of the year. Otis grated on me at first but I've come to love it. New Day is amazing. NIP is just too much fun not to love. Is the album perfect? No, it's like a dumb blockbuster movie that has some great scenes and a lot of stupid ones. 

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post #23 of 23
11/21/11 at 10:37am

Speaking of "No Church in the Wild" (and yeah - I just relistened to it - it is pretty great) where's that instrumental thing at the end from?  I know it sounds familiar but can't place it.

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