“Murder To Excellence” is the thematic centerpiece of Watch The Throne. The song, like the album, contains lyrical expressions of the spectrum of black experience and blackness in contemporary American society.

The song consists of two parts that discuss two movements. “Murder” speaks about how the cycles of poverty and violence between black communities that many African-Americans find it difficult to escape and how they should learn to love each other and unite to fight greater purposes like racism and unfair police treatment.

“Excellence” treats a more positive subject. Despite all odds, some African-Americans have escaped the stereotypical “ghetto” and risen to become a new American elite. Jay and Kanye are examples of this. Gradually but surely, the experience of blackness in America is improving in a big way.