Former Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera says he made more money from Kanye West and JAY-Z’s “No Church in the Wild” than he did in an entire 50-year career with the group. He reflected on the collaboration in his new memoir, Revolución to Roxy.
“’No Church in the Wild’ was the first track [of Watch the Throne], with my guitar riff playing throughout the whole song and included vocals by Frank Ocean and The-Dream,” Manzanera wrote in an excerpt shared in iNews. “The album went gold in the UK and Italy, and platinum in the United States and Denmark. It was used in the trailer and in a scene in the film The Great Gatsby, was in an advertisement for Audi cars, and in another TV ad for Dodge Dart which ran in the half-time break of the Super Bowl.”
Kanye West & JAY-Z Perform At Made In America Festival
PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 01: Jay-Z and Kanye West perform during the Budweiser Made In America Festival Benefiting The United Way – Day 1 at Benjamin Franklin Parkway on September 1, 2012 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
He continued: “Who knew that I would earn more money from a short guitar riff that I wrote one evening on a sofa in front of the telly in 1978 than I ever earned in the entire 50 years as a member of Roxy Music? Thank you, Kanye West, thank you Jay-Z, thank you Virgin and Universal, and thank you to the capricious mistress that is rock’n’roll.” JAY-Z and Kanye West released “No Church in the Wild” on their iconic collaborative album, Watch the Throne. Revisit the song below.
Phil Manzanera Contributes Guitar Sample For JAY-Z & Kanye West’s “No Church In The Wild”
“No Church in the Wild” isn’t the only hit song from Watch the Throne. Their other single, “N****s In Paris,” recently reached diamond certification with the Recording Industry of America. Be on the lookout for further updates on Kanye West and JAY-Z on HotNewHipHop.
Watch The Throne celebrated its 12th anniversary on August 8. The collaborative album between rap titans Jay-Z and Kanye West was a spectacle in every sense of the word. Naturally, the duo went on a tour to promote the album with a presentation that matched their massive presence in the rap world. Even the CD for the album was noteworthy, being a collaboration between Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci and Virgil Abloh.
Behind-the-scenes videos of Jay and Ye showed them working on the album in foreign locations, adding to its prestige. The music contained several legendary collaborators ranging from Beyoncé to Frank Ocean and Kanye-affiliated multi-instrumentalist producer Mike Dean. The album is a time capsule of the year it was released due to Kanye and Jay’s closeness, their place and influence in the culture overall, and the power of the music itself.
The Power Of Collaboration
Watch The Throne showcased what could happen when two giants in the rap game came together. Before the album’s release, fans were used to rapper and producer collab projects. However, this album was something completely different. Kanye already built a reputation for bringing people together for his songs, working with iconic rappers, singers, and producers to create legendary and unique tracks.
Kanye handled some of the production for this album and was joined by legendary producers Hit-Boy, The Neptunes, 88 Keys, RZA, Q-Tip, Swizz Beatz, and Mike Dean. Listeners were excited to have so many producers with contrasting sounds coming together. Meanwhile, Watch The Throne’s first single was “H•A•M,” but the second single, “Otis,” is cemented in rap history. Another massive single from the album was “N*ggas In Paris,” which has two soundbites from Will Ferrell from the movie Blades of Glory. These segments became classic moments and are still referenced to this day. The song also spawned the still-referenced meme “Who was in Paris?”
The Luxury Of Watch The Throne
(EXCLUSIVE, Premium Rates Apply) MIAMI – MARCH 22: Musician Kanye West performs with Jay-Z during “The Heart of the City” tour at American Airlines Arena on March 22, 2008 in Miami. **EXCLUSIVE** (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
The fact the album Watch The Throne exists in the first place is almost a flex. Multiple recording sessions were held in luxury rooms in New York’s Mercer Hotel and Tribeca Grand Hotel. Other locations included Hawaii, Australia, and of course, Paris. Many of the samples within the music are creative and obscure. Riccardo Tisci, the creative director of Givenchy, designed the album’s cover and enclosed artwork. Virgil Abloh also had a hand in the process, whose brand OFF-WHITE was quite popular then and has only increased since his passing. The album’s deluxe CD cover was textured, shined, and had a fold-out component that showcased more artwork. This showed the rap world the importance of physical media and the power of executing it creatively. The luxury was reflected sonically and physically.
Jay & Ye’s Relationship
Watch The Throne was the album that doubled down on the friendship between Kanye and Jay-Z. Many were well aware of the brotherhood between the duo. They worked together on a plethora of music across the years. However, the process of this album’s creation found them butting heads. They disagreed on the direction the album should go, and Jay wanted some songs for his then-upcoming solo album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. Further, Jay-Z was recently featured on “Jail” from Kanye’s album Donda. This feature was truly the most impactful because it came after the duo seemingly had a fallout to end all fallouts. However, it was short-lived, as Kanye’s most recent behavior distanced him from almost all his previous connections.
Laying The Groundwork
AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 19: Kanye West and Jay-Z perform during VEVO Presents: G.O.O.D. Music at VEVO Power Station on March 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for VEVO)
The collaborative project paved the way for many rap records that came in later years. Drake has recently released several joint projects, including those with 21 Savage and Future. Travis Scott and Quavo’s is an often overlooked collaboration for their discographies. Future and Juice WRLD’s found the latter making a project with one of his idols. Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka’s collab serves as a time capsule of the Atlanta rap scene. Meanwhile, Lil Baby and Gunna’s project is a time capsule of where it is now. Each of these projects capitalized on overlapping fanbases and showed where their chemistry level truly was. However, none of these projects had quite the impact of Watch The Throne globally.
The Success Of Watch
Watch The Throne’s commercial performance is a testament to the power of the collaboration of the artists. The album went No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in its first week. Additionally, it broke the US iTunes Store’s one-week sales record. It stayed in the Top 5 on Billboard for four weeks, selling upward of 80,000 copies weekly. The album has sold over 1.5 million copies and has gone quintuple Platinum.
Additionally, it found similar success out of the US, charting No. 1 in several countries. The music videos for the album have amassed millions of views, with the one for “Otis” being heavily discussed. Many people have celebrated the album’s creation and showcase of skill from two closely associated artists. Its power is still discussed by listeners today, 12 years after its release.
It’s hard to believe for a guy who spent the first decade of his career making a diamond shape with his hands, but Jay-Z has just received his first-ever Diamond single certification from the RIAA. On Monday, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced the 2011 single “N****s In Paris” from Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s collaborative album Watch The Throne had passed 10 million units sold. The achievement marks Kanye’s second diamond certification after the 2007 Graduation lead single “Stronger” crossed the threshold in October 2021.
US Certifications (@RIAA): Jay Z (@sc) & @kanyewest, N****s in Paris Diamond (10,000,000).
Hit-Boy, who produced the record, noted the accomplishment on Twitter, drawing a parallel with his groundbreaking work with former Jay-Z rival Nas. “it’s a real blessing to be apart of the song that became jay-z first diamond record and producing the album that won Nas his first grammy,” he wrote. “What a life.” Mike Dean, who also contributed to the track, celebrated receiving his fourth Diamond award.
it’s a real blessing to be apart of the song that became jay-z first diamond record and producing the album that won Nas his first grammy. What a life
“Paris” was a record-breaking hit in other respects, as well, becoming known for the number of times the duo would perform encores of the song while on tour. They maxed out at 12 times in — naturally — Paris on June 18, 2012.
Just for the fun of it, you can listen to “N****s In Paris” above.
Hip-hop joint albums are special whenever they release. Collaborations can occur between a rapper and producer, two rappers, a rapper and a singer—the list goes on. These collaborations can bring two artists from the same musical world, or it may seem unexpected on paper but work out surprisingly well. When these pairings happen, the discussions of who was the “best” is a popular and fun debate.
The chemistry between the artists matters most, and the better it is, the better the music will be. In hip-hop, joint albums are a staple. From rap’s inception, artists have long partnered with each other. Who reigns supreme is debatable, but we’ve pulled together five joint projects that have excelled over others.
This is one of the biggest and most celebrated hip-hop joint projects ever. Released in September 2015, What A Time To Be Alive brought together two of the hottest rappers in the game. They recorded the project in six days. It was birthed from their collaborative song “Where Ya At.”
After creating that song, the duo locked in and recorded even more. Composed of 11 tracks, the project has no features. The final two tracks are solo cuts from each artist. While not officially credited as a collaboration with Metro Boomin, he produced eight songs on the project. Amongst these was the project’s biggest hit “Jumpman.” This project capitalized on the popularity of two figures in the rap game and how their styles could complement each other.
This hip-hop joint album dropped when the two artists were at their peak. Lil Baby and Gunna are both artists from Atlanta and are at the helm of modern artists from the city. Their collab dropped in October 2018, the year both of them released several solo projects. Fittingly, the project’s name combines the titles from their respective solo project series’ Drip Season and Harder. They have featured on each other’s music multiple times before. Listeners praised the melodic flows from both artists and their ongoing chemistry with producers Wheezy, Turbo, and Tay Keith. For many listeners, this album was one of the best trap projects of the year, containing the hits “Drip Too Hard” and the Drake-assisted “Never Recover.”
SAVAGE MODE II – Metro Boomin & 21 Savage (2020)
This hip-hop joint album was speculated for years before it was released. However, once it was officially announced, listeners were excited.Savage Mode II was released in October 2020 and is the sequel to Metro Boomin and 21 Savage’s collab project Savage Mode. For many people, the first project was their introduction to 21’s music. The size of 21’s audience had nearly tripled when they released the sequel. Metro Boomin had fully established himself as a talented producer too. Like most of Metro’s work, this album had an excellent promo. A trailer, directed by Gibson Hazard and narrated by Morgan Freeman, preceded the album’s release. Freeman also does narration throughout the project itself. The project balanced the eerie sounds the duo was known for with a few R&B tracks and even an old school-inspired one.
KIDS SEE GHOSTS – KIDS SEE GHOSTS (2018)
This hip-hop joint project was part of a very popular season for Kanye West – Summer of 2018. This was one of the five projects from the “Wyoming Sessions.” This one finds him with a longtime collaborator and mentee, Kid Cudi. The duo has since ended their relationship. This album was only seven songs, but the impact was strong for many listeners. It showcased both artists at their most vulnerable, and through this, they created motivational songs.
They spoke about their mental struggles, and the album takes listeners on a journey of their struggles but eventual triumphs. The duo performed multiple tracks from the album at Camp Flog Gnaw 2018 while suspended in what appeared to be a clear shipping container. This album serves as a time capsule for the year they released it and for the duo’s relationship both inside and outside of the music.
This hip-hop joint album brought together two titans in the rap world. Everything about it catered to their established legacy. Many rap listeners knew about the friendship between Jay-Z and Kanye West. Watch The Throne was released in August 2011. The running theme around it was luxury in every sense of the word. The recording process, location, album cover, music videos, and verses all kept this theme going strong.
The album cover was designed by Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci and the late Virgil Abloh. One of the most notable moments from this album is the music video for the hit single “Otis,” in which the duo modified a Maybach and drove it with reckless bliss. During a single show during their tour, the duo performed their hit “Paris” over ten times. Few have come close to the extravagance of this album.
Joint hip-hop albums are much more common than they are in other genres. For example, rapper Future has done quite a few collaborative projects. Hip-hop is a collaborative genre, so these records aren’t uncommon. Arguably, joint albums have often superseded an artist standing alone. Here, we’re looking at some of rap’s best collisions in the studio.
Super Slimey showcases two of the most influential trap artists of all time. Future and Young Thug have both inspired later generations of rappers and, before doing this project, already cemented themselves as some of the all-time greats. Their joint work wasn’t a groundbreaking record, nor was it either of their best work. Nevertheless, seeing (or hearing) these two artists, who have produced so many iconic songs together, put out a full-length project was excellent.
Lil Baby and Gunna were a match made in heaven, and that shows on Drip Harder. The collaborative project has these two arguably in their best shape. Neither has produced a solo album quite as good as this one. Perhaps they’re better together than they are apart. There are a lot of excellent tracks on this, such as “Belly,” “Never Recover,” “Drip Too Hard,” and “Business is Business.”
5. What A Time To Be Alive – Future & Drake (2015)
What A Time To Be Alive features two of the most iconic rappers from this age. Many consider Drake the greatest rapper working right now, and there’s no way to tell the story of hip-hop without including a heavy dose of Future. These artists have linked up for many great songs, but their joint album was a true work of art. Even eight years later, the project still stands up in their vast discographies. It’s a short album with only 11 tracks. However, what they sacrificed in length, they more than made up for with quality. There’s hardly a skip on the entire project.
4. Kids See Ghosts – Kanye West & Kid Cudi (2018)
In 2018, it was a big year for joint hip-hop albums. Several other entries on this list were put out that year, but the best and most interesting one was Kanye West (now known simply as Ye) and Kid Cudi’s Kids See Ghosts. This project or a sequel couldn’t happen today due to the conflict between the artists and the never-ending controversy with Ye. However, it stands as one of the most unique collaborations in hip-hop history.
It’s full of excellent songs despite only featuring seven tracks. They’re all unique and find a way to stand out. While both of these artists have legendary discographies, and it’s easy to forget they worked together, this album is still worth revisiting today. It’s not either of their best works, but it is each artist’s most distinctive.
3. Watch the Throne – Kanye West & Jay-Z (2011)
Watch the Throne is one of the earlier examples of a joint album between hip-hop artists. While they existed much earlier than 2011, Jay-Z and Kanye West’s crossover helped set the standard and bring collaborative records into the mainstream. While it’s not Jay-Z’s album of the same name, it is the “blueprint” for how joint hip-hop albums should work. These two worked in perfect tandem and produced iconic songs. Hip-hop would not be the same today if Jay and Ye didn’t decide to come together for one of the best albums of the 21st century. For that alone, it’s one of the best joint hip-hop albums ever.
2. Pluto x Baby Pluto– Future & Lil Uzi Vert (2020)
Understandably, 2020 was a pretty down year for music and the arts. However, it produced some incredible albums like folklore from Taylor Swift and The Weeknd’s After Hours. It also gave music fans an incredible joint album from Future and Lil Uzi Vert. These two came together forPluto x Baby Pluto, a seminal work for collaborations.
It’s longer than many projects on this list, but it doesn’t suffer for it. All 16 tracks fare well, with songs like “Off Dat,” “That’s It,” “Plastic,” and “Bought A Bad B****” standing out. What’s even better is that the deluxe version adds a few more songs and two great collaborative tracks (“Patek” and “Over Your Head”) released long before this record.
1. Without Warning – 21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin’ (2017)
A list of the best collaborative albums in hip-hop cannot exclude 2017’s Without Warning. The surprise project released in late October is one of the best from the entire year. It features songs that people still frequently listen to today. For Offset, this is easily his best work. It could very well be 21 Savage’s, too.
Metro Boomin’ is arguably the best producer in the industry today, and he has a few albums of his own. This genuinely might be his best. The members of Migos have often had a tough time venturing into projects outside the group, but this is excellent work from Offset. 21 Savage, a frequent collaborator with Metro Boomin’, is as good as ever here, too.
“We can talk, but money talks, so talk mo’ bucks,” Jay-Z spits on 2001’s “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”, indicating just how mammoth his empire would become. Not only was The Blueprint single his first Top 10 hit (signaling his growing rap domination), but it also marked Kanye West’s mainstream introduction. Then solely an in-house producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, he made his place known with the jovial “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” production and later his rollercoaster ride as a solo rap superstar.
In the decade following “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”, both artists’ pockets got even heavier as they skyrocketed as the Kings of Rap. Being the boastful men they are, their untouchable stature was celebrated on Watch The Throne. The joint project, which turns 10 this month, was a natural progression of the buddies’ careers. West was still on a high from 2010’s magnum opus My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, a prog-rap feast that was released eight months prior. As for Jay-Z, he dropped his 11th album The Blueprint 3 in 2009. Albeit insipid compared to the triptych’s previous albums, it gifted him his first No. 1 hit with the ubiquitous, Grammy-winning “Empire State Of Mind”.
So they kept the momentum going, combining years of friendship, equal love for the finer things in life, and sh*t-talking together on a handful of collaborations on Watch The Throne. The packaging alone was dripping in luxe: the pair called on Riccardo Tisci, Givenchy’s creative director at the time, to design the gold-plated artwork as well as their tour outfits that ignited the idea of concert merch being presented as high-fashion.
Even the album’s creation was an event. They recorded in extravagant hotels and villas all around the world, from New York City, Paris, Sydney (where Russell Crowe, whom West shouts out on “Illest Motherf*cker Alive” made a cameo), England, Los Angeles, and Hawaii (the same place West hunkered down for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy). It was a lifestyle that only the rich and famous could acquire, which they made clear throughout the album.
“It’s just protecting the music and the culture. It’s people that’s in the forefront of the music. ‘Watch the Throne,’ like protect it. You just watch how popular music shift, and how hip-hop basically replaced rock & roll as the youth music,” Jay-Z explained during the album’s promo run. “The same thing can happen to hip-hop. It can be replaced by other forms of music. So it’s making sure that we put the effort into making the best product so we can contend with all this other music, with dance music that’s dominating the charts right now and indie music that’s dominating the festivals.”
That idea of reclaiming rap as a youth genre was best seen on “H•A•M,” the album’s first single and the most arrogant track on Watch The Throne. The pair’s braggadocio lyrics (see Jay-Z’s Birdman subliminal “I’m like, ‘Really, half a billi,’ n****, really?’ You got baby money / Keep it real with n****s, n****s ain’t got my lady money) was anchored by Lex Luger’s intense, spooky, and operatic production — his signature sound that ruled hip-hop for a wink of time. Yet “H•A•M” wasn’t the best reflection of the album, and the rappers seemingly agreed, ultimately placing it as a bonus track on the deluxe edition.
Watch The Throne’s true landmark was “Otis.” Diehard fans remember exactly where they were when it premiered on Hot 97, with Funkmaster Flex dropping infinite bombs on the single. It’s one of West and Jigga’s most jubilant moments that highlight their innate chemistry, as they trade grandiose bars atop a fervently chopped sample of Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness” that could only be executed by West himself. The Spike Jonze-directed video doubled-down on the rappers’ blatant flexes (“Luxury rap, the Hermès of verses / Sophisticated ignorance, write my curses in cursive”) by deconstructing a Maybach 57 like kids playing with a toy car just for the hell of it.
The decadence continued on The Neptunes co-produced “Gotta Have It” that gave us timely references like “planking on a million” and “Maybachs on ‘Bachs on ‘Bachs on ‘Bachs on ‘Bachs”, as well as the “No Church In The Wild” opener. Featuring Frank Ocean (who just became a critical darling with his debut mixtape nostalgia,ULTRA), it is an ominous, cinematic masterpiece. The artists discuss Greek philosophy, the constructs of religion and monogamy (“Jesus was a carpenter, Yeezy laid beats / Hova flow the Holy Ghost”), and misogynistic power (“You will not control the threesome”)
Then there’s “N****s In Paris.” The Grammy-winning track put producer Hit-Boy on the map, thanks to its bonkers blend of thumping basslines, ear-piercing synths, and that incredibly random Blades Of Glory dialogue that best summates the song: “No one knows what it means, but it’s provocative!” It’s weird, anthemtic nature is best displayed in a live setting, with West and Jay-Z showing just how wonderfully obnoxious it is by performing it a record of 11 times during their Paris tour stop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG_dA32oH44
But the luxury rap and trendy sounds (the dubstep-driven “Who Gon Stop Me” and the bombastic electronics of “Why I Love You”) were balanced with messages that gave an insight into what it means to be successful and Black in America.
The pair call upon RZA, who funnels Nina Simone’s ”Feeling Good” through Auto-tune as they somberly ruminate over the lessons they want to teach their future sons. It was an interesting foreshadow, as both rappers first had daughters before adding their male heirs to their throne. While West mostly harbored the album’s viral moments, “Welcome To The Jungle” belongs to Jay-Z. Here, he reveals pain, grief, and depression he’s faced while describing himself as a “tortured soul,” flipping the Guns N’ Roses debaucherous reference to represent the rugged streets. Yes, the rappers were rich beyond measure, but they also grappled with the average Black American struggle that contrasted with Black excellence (“Murder To Excellence”) and if the American Dream is even achievable (“Made In America”).
Jay-Z and West already launched their careers into music’s stratosphere by the time of Watch The Throne’s release, but they solidified themselves as rap visionaries shrouded by wealth in an untouchable tax bracket. Jay-Z continued to flaunt his riches, releasing the designer Magna Carta Holy Grail in 2013 before breaking his facade with 2017’s 4:44 and later becoming rap’s first billionaire in 2019. West had a vastly different trajectory: in the midst of releasing five more albums (including this year’s DONDA), he became even more known for controversy, from supporting President Trump, having very public mental breakdowns that targeted then-wife Kim Kardashian, Kris Jenner and his daughter North, harmfully declaring “Slavery is dead” and later divorcing the Kardashian.
There have been many cries for a Watch The Throne sequel, and the teasers and false starts didn’t help the cause. It was unclear if the reunion was ever going to happen, especially as Jay-Z continued to distance himself from his once-close ally. Interim joint projects, from Drake and Future’s What A Time To Be Alive to 21 Savage and Offset’s Without Warning and even West’s Kids See Ghosts with Kid Cudi, helped satiate millennial rap fans.
The pair seem to be on better terms, though, with the former recently making an unexpected appearance on West’s DONDA. But the opulent spectacle that made Watch The Throne so fun cannot be replicated. “How many people you know can take it this far?” Beyoncé mused on “Lift Off.” Jay-Z and Kanye West exceeded far beyond their pinnacles at the time, and it’s hard to guesstimate how much further they could possibly go. But we’re fine not knowing the answer for now.
