Watch the Throne

Jay-Z and West had worked together since West produced This Can't Be Life on Jay-Z's 2000 album The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. After a Jay-Z remix of Power surfaced in 2010, West announced a five-track EP, which grew into a full album. Sessions began in November 2010, in England, and continued in Australia, Paris, Abu Dhabi, New York and Los Angeles. Jay-Z said they often recorded in hotel rooms and that the album went through three iterations. In January 2011 they rented a block of rooms at the Mercer Hotel in New York and invited producers and artists. Mike Dean mastered the album there.

The guests are Frank Ocean, The-Dream, Beyonce and Mr Hudson, with vocal contributions from Kid Cudi, Seal, Justin Vernon, Elly Jackson, Connie Mitchell, Charlie Wilson and Pete Rock. Jay-Z said of the title in 2011 that it means protecting the music and the culture.

Reception

It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 with 436,000 copies and set a first-week sales record at the iTunes Store. The RIAA certified it five-times platinum in November 2020. Seven singles followed, including H.A.M., Otis, Lift Off and No Church in the Wild. The Watch the Throne Tour ran from October 2011 to June 2012.