Jay-Z and Kanye West - Otis
The “Watch The Throne” hype-machine is still chugging along this week. The iTunes-exclusive digital version was released a few days ago, and the physical CD hits stores Friday. The much anticipated video premiered on a few of Viacom’s networks (MTV, MTV2, BET, MTV476, etc.), then to its websites. The visual direction is provided by Spike Jonze, who is responsible for many memorable music videos in the past 2 decades, so expectations were high.
Does it live up to expectations? Well, in some ways. I’m sure fans were expecting some elaborate super-video with Maybach-hovercrafts and an Obama cameo. Well, there is a Maybach, and a small cameo by comedian Aziz Ansari. The video opens with Jay & Ye heading towards it with a blowtorch and a ripsaw. The nearly $400,000 car is cut and chopped into a Mad Max or Deathrace 2000 version of itself. Okay, so after that, Hov and Yeezy tool around a parking lot for 3 minutes in the scary Maybach with some European models.. end of video! Not quite. It is a pretty simple and low-key (for them) video. No flash, no uber-luxury, except for chopping up a Maybach. Just Jay and Kanye genuinely having fun here. Just white tees, expensive denim and Jordans (1s and 6s, thanks Twitter!). They’re smiling, hanging on each other while trading rhymes. The surprise is Jay-Z. I can not recall the last time I’ve seen him this happy, and frankly, young. That’s the real takeaway here(and I believe the intended result of the video). You see how these guys really are together, and get a feeling what the recording sessions for this album were like. It’s truly fun to see them together. Take a look for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments.
