Three years ago, Vulture was at the American Museum of Natural History’s One Step Beyond party when Kanye made a bonkers surprise appearance. Last night, Vulture was herded into the AMNH’s Hayden Planetarium to hear Kanye and Jay-Z’s (sorry, sorry: the Throne’s) Watch the Throne. So the point is … um, museums are more fun when Kanye is at them?
Also spicing things up last night: the presence of Busta Rhymes, Pusha-T, Kelly Rowland, Q-Tip, Jada Pinkett Smith, Beyoncé (in jean shorts!), and mini-lobster-rolls. The listening session went down in the planetarium itself, with massive, chest-rattling speakers blasting WTT all the way through while the actual “Journey to the Stars†show played above. In case you’re wondering, yes, that is a positive manner in which to experience music! A few spare highlights, then. (And feel free to check out Rap-Up’s full track-by-track breakdown for a more detailed analysis.)
• Kanye, who threatened to “choke a South Park writer with a fish stick†on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is still kind of salted at the show. At one point, he says, “South Park had them all laughin.’†Ah, ’Ye, come on, buddy; it wasn’t so bad!
• Odd Future’s Frank Ocean’s two cameos are both great, especially “Sweet Baby Jesus.†Even better, surprisingly, is non-famous Kanye protégé Mr. Hudson’s appearance on the last track, “Why I Love You,†with a massive, totally cheesy, dumb-fun chorus.
• At one point, a snippet from Blades of Glory pops up, from the scene where Will Ferrell is convincing Napoleon Dynamite to figure skate to “My Humpsâ€: “No one knows what it means … but it’s provocative.†Also, as you may recall, Kanye quoted the “like a mix between Fergie and Jesus†line from Step Brothers on “See Me Now.†So, just for the record, that’s two albums in a row where ’Ye has simultaneously referenced Ferrell and Fergie.
• On the chorus to standout track “Lift Off,†Beyoncé sings something along the lines of “we gon’ take it to the moon, we gon’ take it to the starsâ€; meanwhile, owing to the effects of the concurrent bit in the planetarium show, it felt like we were actually traveling into the moon and stars.