When the 2010s rolled in, there were no bigger names in hip-hop than Kanye West and JAY-Z. Jay’s lyrical genius had already earned him a spot among the all-time greats, and Kanye had proven himself a superstar rapper and producer with classic-leaning rap albums like The College Dropout and more experimental records like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. But just to ensure there was no doubt they were at the top of the rap game, the friends and frequent collaborators decided to team up for one of the greatest joint albums of all time, 2011’s Watch The Throne.
Featuring production from the likes of Ye, Hit-Boy, MIKE DEAN, RZA, and Pharrell, Watch The Throne built on the stadium-ready, progressive-rock-influenced sound that Kanye created with Twisted Fantasy. Guests included Frank Ocean, The-Dream, Beyoncé, and Mr. Hudson, among others. With gold cover art designed by Riccardo Tisci, creative director of Givenchy at the time, the album was the musical embodiment of opulence and Black excellence—and a promise to deliver nothing less than that going forward.
“It’s just protecting the music and the culture,” JAY-Z told Miami’s 99 Jamz radio, explaining the title’s meaning. “You just watch how popular music shifts and how hip-hop has basically replaced rock and roll as the youth music. The same thing could happen to hip-hop, it could be replaced by other forms of music. So it’s just making sure that we put that effort into making the best product so we can contend with all this other music.”
But Jay and Kanye weren’t just looking to protect their places in pop culture—they were also there to celebrate that they’d earned places at all, and that celebration hits its peak on the LP’s biggest single and the top hip-hop song of 2011 on Genius according to pageviews, “Ni**as In Paris.”
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Named for where, as Kanye iconically once explained, it was recorded, “Ni**as In Paris” came together at Le Meurice, the luxury hotel Bey and Jay often stay at when they visit the French city. The high-energy staccato instrumental, cooked up by Ye, Hit-Boy, MIKE DEAN, and Anthony Kilhoffer, was actually a reject from a beat pack Hit-Boy had sent over to rapper Pusha T. On the surface, the lyrics sound like a whole lot of bragging about living large in Paris among famous fashion designers, supermodels, and endless bottles of Champagne. But JAY-Z swears there’s a deeper meaning to the track.
“It’s not, like, ‘We’re here! We’re balling harder than everybody,‘” he told GQ. “It’s like, ‘I’m shocked that we’re here.’ Still being amazed, still not being jaded. Having so much fun and then stopping and saying, ‘What are we doing here? How did we get here?’”
That gratefulness is evident in the liveliness of both Kanye and Jay’s verses, which they made sure to record together in person. On Hov’s verse, he’s having so much fun, he doesn’t even care that his major investment in an NBA team isn’t going exactly according to plan. (The year this song was made, the Brooklyn Nets finished their season with a record of 12-70.)
(Ball so hard) This shit crazy
Y’all don’t know that don’t shit faze me
The Nets could go 0 for 82
And I’d look at you like this shit gravy
On his verse, Ye cheekily critiques others who are afforded similar wealth and privilege—namely Prince William, whose royal wedding to Kate Middleton took place in 2011—for not taking full advantage of the perks and possibilities their glamorous lives can bring.
Prince Williams ain’t do it right, if you ask me
’Cause I was him, I would have married Kate and Ashley
That carefree, fun-loving energy is topped off with a Will Ferrell sample from the 2007 film Blades of Glory on the intro and interlude—something Ferrell was more than pleased about. “That’s high praise, I think,” Ferrell told George Stroumboulopoulos. “I don’t know why necessarily, but it’s fantastic.”
Despite its not-so-radio-friendly title, “Paris” reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and took home the Grammys for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance in 2012. It also became a legendary live show staple, famously being performed 12 times in a row at a concert in Paris. Unfortunately, the pair have yet to reunite for a Watch the Throne follow-up, though. And due to a few relationship bumps in the road ahead, we won’t see the duo pop up on many more of these lists together—though they will make some appearances on their own.
- “Ni**as in Paris” JAY Z & Kanye West
- “Can’t Hold Us” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- “The Motto” Drake
- “212” Azealia Banks
- “No Church in the Wild” JAY Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, The-Dream
- “Yonkers” Tyler, the Creator
- “Marvins Room” Drake
- “Look At Me Now” Chris Brown
- “Bonfire” Childish Gambino
- “Over My Dead Body” Drake