Jay-Z & Kanye West - “Ni**as in Paris”
Though Watch the Throne covers more ground than most people want to give it credit for, the gold-plated operative word on the marquis is still king-making (or, if you prefer, superhero-making). The double-edged mass appeal of it can not be overstated—love them or hate them, our collective jaws sit agape at the spectacle of Jay-Z and Kanye West crowning themselves heroes of…uh…rap? Pop? Bootstrap capitalism? Mogulhood? According to Jay, it’s ballin’, and in my lack of a better term I suggest we accept his. With its tense, echoing riff and ticking white-knuckle beat, “Paris” ensures The Throne’s victory is properly writ: larger than life. From bathroom stalls to McDonald’s menus to French discos to royal weddings, the pair treat their lives as a master class in ballin’, so much so that even the jokey “going gorillas” line (and John Heder’s subsequent response) takes on weight. Do we not know what it means because it’s nonsense or because we just don’t ball hard enough? For the answer, see the mid-2011 spike in Google searches for “Margiela” and the YouTube footage of two millionaires blasting through “Paris” three eleven (?!) times a night. Will Ferrell was right: this year, this was the only song we skated to.
