(ThyBlackMan.com) 2011 for hip hop music has been talked about as one of the best years in recent memory. The likes of J. Cole, Wale, Fabolous and Rick Ross have made buzzes releasing singles and flooding the underground with mix tapes. While Lil’ Wayne, J. Cole and Drake all have albums slated for release in August, September, and October respectively, no album this year has received the hype that Kanye West and Jay-Z have gotten for their highly anticipated collaboration album Watch The Throne.
Two of raps most prolific names getting together to record what is anticipated 
and expected a masterpiece. Kanye is coming off releasing critically acclaimed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Jay-Z is known as the best rapper alive from his body of work and classic albums, so anything short from a masterpiece from the two will be seen as a failure. The question begs: Will Watch the Throne be worth the wait and make the hype line?
Once a artist in this situation known to the world as Michael Jackson, was feeling the heat August of 1986 of making a better follow up, Bad, to the worlds best selling album Thriller. At the time Thriller, released in 1982, sold 39 million copies worldwide (of course it sold more since) and Jackson put on his mirror he wanted the record to sell “100 million” and wanted Bad to be perfect and even better than Thriller. Expectations of the record were at an all time high in 1987. And Jackson worked vigorously in the studio, knowing the pressure to deliver was rising by each passing day. The album released the next year in August of 1987 and sold 8 million in the US and 30 million worldwide as of 2011. It only sold just over a quarter of Thriller, but it spawned a record five number 1 pop hits and six top 10 overall. It may not have topped his predecessor sales wise, but the album finished 1989 as the second best selling album ever. Crowning MJ forever as “King of Pop”
Is it better than Thriller? Was it his peak in artistry? Depends who you ask. But what you can’t deny is the album lived up to the hype in its own way. To this day, Bad is still seen as a classic album, and a hardcore Jackson fan will probably call it their favorite out of Jackson’s batch of records. Many will say Kanye and Jay have spit better, and this wasn’t their best offerings music wise. But WTT lived up to the hype and the album is still seen as up to par lyrics and production wise. The content of the album is wonderful and the lyrics seem that Kanye is still trying to beat big brother. Which make the album intriguing and interesting.
So we should all enjoy these albums with so much hype. We know there can only be one The College Dropout and Jay can’t make anymore The Blueprint/Reasonable Doubt. But the hype will always make you wonder can an artist make another album that succeeds their classic. Even though timeless classics such as Thriller/Reasonable Doubt/The Blueprint only come once. Quincy Jones once said anyone who goes in saying an album will be a big hit during recording is lying. So only time will tell with WTT. Enjoy the good music Ye and Jay have provided us.
