After months of nothing, information has started pouring in about Kanye West and Jay-Z's collaborative album, Watch the Throne. Earlier in the week, the album was made available for pre-order; last night, Jay-Z held a listening session for select journalists at New York City's Mercer Hotel, and several sources spilled some tantalizing details...
According to Billboard, the listening session lasted about three hours and included 11 songs slated to appear on Watch the Throne, as well as a few that may or may not make the cut. Songs mentioned include "No Church" and the leaked track "That's My Bitch", the latter of which was not played but, according to producer Mike Dean, is currently in the process of being mixed by Q-Tip. In addition to the previously reported Beyoncé feature on the tentatively titled cut "Lift Off" (which might get an accompanying video, despite Jay's wishes to release the album without a single attached), R&B singer and Odd Future affiliate Frank Ocean sings on two songs. Jay also mentioned that Ocean appears on a song for his forthcoming follow-up to 2009's The Blueprint 3, for which two songs have been completed.
According to MTV, one song features "verses directed to [Jay-Z and Kanye's] hypothetical unborn sons." And while the pair originally planned to make the whole album an over-the-top sonic blowout a la operatic first single "H.A.M.", they later decided to scale things back a bit. "It's just so big and so much, you don't want that shit screaming in your house," Jay-Z said of "H.A.M.". Also, Pitchfork contributor and GQ editor Sean Fennessey Tweeted that the album features samples of Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness", Luciano Pavarotti's version of "Ave Maria", and UK dubstep producer Flux Pavilion's ultra-wobbly "I Can't Stop".
UPDATE: Fennessey also wrote a full report of the session for GQ's website, citing other stand-out tracks like "That Shit Crack" (which features the Kanye couplet, "Prince William ain't doin' right if you ask me/ 'Cause I'd marry (Mary) Kate and Ashley") and "Italian Living" (which features the aforementioned "Ave Maria" sample and the Kanye line, "I'm about to say something crazy/ John Galliano"). The GQ report also states that, according to Jay, "H.A.M." may not make the final version of the album.
There's no set release date for Watch the Throne as of yet, with Jay-Z only saying that it is "coming soon." In an admission that might explain the delays surrounding the project, he also said that there's been at least three versions of the album recorded, with the one previewed last night being the third. In addition, Jay dropped a fascinating anecdote regarding Blueprint 3 single "Run This Town": Kanye tried to convince him not to release the song as a single because he didn't think it would be a hit, based on general reaction that took place at a barbecue.
Watch a snippet of Jay and Kanye performing "H.A.M." during SXSW below, via Miss Info-- the clip is taken from a full concert that will premiere on Vevo July 12.
