Jay-Z And Kanye West Switch Hotels To Finish 'Watch The Throne'

I guess the phrase "location, location, location" not only applies in business but in superstar collaborations. According to The New York Post, the duo has switched recording spots from the swanky Mercer Hotel to the equally upscale Tribeca Grand Hotel in Manhattan.

Much of Watch The Throne's recording process has taken place in makeshift studios around the globe, from the Mercer in NYC's Soho District to Paris. According to the New York Post's source, it looks like the two recognize it's crunch time. "They were laying down tons of tracks," a witness said. "It was intense -- no Beyoncé and no booze."

Kanye West, The Chemical Brothers To Headline Big Chill Festival

Kanye West has been announced as the headliner for this year's The Big Chill festival. West, along with The Chemical Brothers and Rodrigo Y Gabriela will headline the three-day event at Eastnor Castle Park, Herefordshire August 5-7th. For more information go to Bigchill.net.

View the full festival lineup at NME.com.

Young Guru: "Watch The Throne" Is Almost Ready

Young Guru, a producer/engineer behind monster hits like Jay-Z's "H To The Izzo," Freeway's "What We Do" and Cam'Ron's "Oh Boy" told Vibe  Watch The Throne, Kanye and Jay-Z's hotly anticipated joint LP, is almost finished.

“Right now, I’m really trying to get Jay and Kanye to hurry up and finish this Watch The Throne album because the world needs to hear it," Guru said, while taking a break at the SXSW festival. “It just needs little tweaks and things like that. But the core of the album is finished."

While he hasn't contributed any beats himself, Guru confirmed that West, Q-Tip, No I.D. and Pete Rock have all created potential songs for the album. “Kanye takes what they do and adds on to it and I think that’s his genius. I say this all the time ‘Kanye records are never the same twice, while he’s making them because they always grow.’"

Guru remained mum on any guest appearances or other details about the album, but hinted at future Jay-Z projects. Watch The Throne currently has no release date. Watch the interview below.

Kanye West "All Of The Lights (Pretty Lights Remix)"

Listen to Pretty Lights' electrofied makeover of "All The Lights" from Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy below:


03 Kanye West All Of The Lights Remix by IndiesUnder

Kanye West To Release New Album This Summer

It looks like Kanye is gearing up for a busy 2011. Although it's only been a few months since the release of the critically-acclaimed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, the rapper tweeted that a follow up should be out as early as this summer.

"MY NEW ALBUM OUT THIS SUMMER," he posted with trademark enthusiasm. "THIS IS HIGH END RAP MUSIC," he later tweeted. "I just threw some bassoon on this motherfucker." West also gave details on the release dates of "All The Lights" and Watch The Throne, posting that the video, featuring Rihanna, should be out within the next week, while his collaboration with Jay-Z should drop in March.

So are you ready for another Yeezy extravaganza or do you think he should wait a minute for another solo release?

Paper Diamond Remixes Kanye West's "Power"

Grab your glowsticks. Paper Diamond, set to release his debut EP Levitate on Pretty Lights' digital record label next Tuesday, has released his remix of Kanye West's "Power." The producer also known as Alex B, crams enough bottom-heavy bass, sped-up synth lines and driving drums to send the rave crowd into an electro feeding frenzy, while still retaining the hip hop swagger of the original. Download below:

Power (Paper Diamond Remix)

Vid Pick: Kanye West "Monster"

Check out Yeezy's fright night-style clip below:

Sneak Peek: Kanye West's "Monster"

This short snippet of Yeezy's video for "Monster" shows Kanye and guest stars Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross in separate scenes of macabre surrealism. The clip seems to draw on iconic videos like MJ's "Thriller," as well as raiding Marilyn Manson's and Lady Gaga's ("Paparazzi" specifically--peep the girls hanging from the ceiling) closets. The full video should be very interesting. Watch below:

Kanye West "So Appalled"

 At over six minutes and featuring guest appearances by Pusha T, Swizz Beatz, RZA, Chi The Prynce and Jay-Z, what's most appalling about this track is that everyone rips the beat the shreds, while tossing around the song's catchphrase "fucking ridiculous" like a hot potato. Now that's fucking ridiculous. Download the song below:

Kanye West- So Appalled

New Music: Mama's Boyfriends

Ye' busted out this new track off his upcoming fifth album during a performance in New York. The rapper's song, which samples a Billy Joel piano riff,  had assistance from John Legend on the keys. Watch the clip below:



For details about the performance and Kanye's album, read the full-story at RollingStone.com

Vid Pick: Kanye West "Power"

I can't stop watching this video. To be honest it's really more like an ancient Greek or Renaissance-era painting than a music video. And it's less than two minutes! Mr. West has again shown that hip hop videos can be more than Money. Cash.Hoes.Rinse in champagne/other expensive alcoholic bottles. Repeat. And for the uniformed, a quick P.S.A: "Power" draws from The Sword of Damocles, an ancient Greek myth about allure and perils of having power. It is not confirmation that Yeezy is part of some secret Illuminati/Devil worship society hell bent on destroying us all. K? Now watch the clip below:

Only Kanye...

Ye' stopped by the offices of Rolling Stone to talk about his new album, Twitter, his diet and his creative process. West also played tracks from the upcoming album and jumped on a table for an impromptu concert. Read the full article here and watch the video below:

Kanye West: 808's And Heartbreak

To the average rap fan, it looks like Kanye West has lost his mind. After spending three albums establishing himself as a credible MC (although he's still no Rakim or Andre 3000 on the mic), Ye' ditched rhyming for singing, picked up an Auto-Tune, the current scourge of rap, and abandoned his College Dropout theme(for the uninitiated, this album was supposed to be Good Ass Job). Top all that off with his current Half-Pint glasses wearing, knatty suit and Captain Ahab beard look, and you have a recipe for a falling off of epic proportions.

If first single "Love Lockdown" was any indication, Late Registration this ain't. 808's and Heartbreak more than lives up to its title, as booming basslines collide with other-wordly samples and strings to provide a fresh canvas for West to spin tales of love drama and regret.

"My friend showed me pictures of his kids/And all I could show him were pictures of my cribs/ He said his daughter got a brand-new report card/And all I got was a brand-new sportscar," West sings in "Welcome To Heartbreak." No longer the fame-hungry new kid on the block, West now seems all too aware of the downsides of stardom. "Do you think I sacrificed a real life/For all the fame and flashing lights," Wests asks in "Pinocchio Story" the live freestyle that closes the album. Now in his early 30's the Louis Vitton Don seems to looking inward, questioning if it was all worth it. Bragging and ego-trips are few and far between.

Heartbreak, both romantic and otherwise, is another recurring theme. "Didn't you know i was waiting on you/Waiting on a dream that'll never come true," West sings in "Bad News" one of several tracks detailing the dark side of love. "Tell every one that you know/That i dont love you no more," he growls on "See You in My Nightmares," while in "Robocop," West fires off sardonic lines at a neurotic girlfriend hell bent on knowing his every move.

Undoubtedly the death of West's mother Donda West influenced the album's subject matter, and serves as inspiration for "Coldest Winter." Backed by sparse instrumentation and tribal drumbeats, West questions whether he can ever love again and ponders past actions. "If spring can take the snow away/Can it melt it away all our mistakes."

While the album's emotional honesty makes it a compelling listen, West could've done more with the tracks. Some come across as too flat and don't match West's dynamic delivery. Other tracks, such as "Say You Will" lumber on for too long and disrupt the album's flow. And does Lil' Wayne have to be on everyone's album this year. I mean did 'Ye really pay $75,000 for that verse? Also it wouldn't have hurt to have dropped at least a couple of 16's.

These complaints aside, with 808's and Heartbreak, West drops the bravado and endless boasting to deliver his most personal and revealing work.


3.5/5