The Latest on Kanye/Jay-Z Collaboration as Kanye Launches 9-City Showcase

This week the Source reported that the Kanye West/Jay-Z collaboration Watch the Throne is now set for release on July 4, according to “a source very close to the Hov and Ye super project.” They went on to speculate that West would announce the release date Thursday night at “a G.O.O.D. Music event presented by Heineken and Kanye West to be held at a still-undisclosed location in New York City.”

That event turned out to be a full-blown G.O.O.D. Music concert, the first in a series of nine such concerts held at downtown Brooklyn’s Skylight venue.
West brought an impressive roster of his G.O.O.D. Music signees, including Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Big Sean and Cyhi Da Prynce, and performed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy tracks “Dark Fantasy.” “Gorgeous,” “Power,” “Hell of a Life,” “Runaway,” “So Appalled” with Cyhi and Pusha, and “All of the Lights” with an amped Cudi, who also did “Mojo So Dope” from his Man on the Moon II and shared the stage with West for “Erase Me.”
Other videos from the showcase: Pusha swagged to the max and mostly singing along to a recording of his Fear of God standout “My God,” Cyhi spitting on Royal Flush track “Sideways,” and West joining Big Sean for “Marvin and Chardonnay,” from Sean’s upcoming debut Finally Famous.
Back in January, West tweeted that Watch the Throne would be out in March, but we didn’t hear much more about the project after presumed lead single, the Lex Luger-produced “H.A.M.,” failed to chart as expected.
Then this week, DOTR posted a tracklist (sans “H.A.M.”) that was later confirmed by You Heard That New to be correct but incomplete, again according to a source “extremely close to the project.”
All of which is to say: maybe Watch the Throne will come out on July 4, and maybe it won’t. When it comes to predicting the release date of a project like this — one which was initially scheduled for release as a five-song EP in August 2010 — all bets are pretty much off.
The tepid reaction to “H.A.M.” may have been partially responsible for the delay, but that track also showed the potential of such a project: West and Hov — conspicuously absent from the stage Thursday night — each have unquestionable pedigree and pretty much their pick in terms of producers.
And recently, Jay’s been at his best when sharing the mic with his world-beating little brother. So while we can take the rumors with a healthy dose of skepticism, there’s certainly plenty for fans of “high end rap music,” in West’s words, to be excited about.
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