With the long-awaited release of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne upon us, we take a quick look at five of the pair’s best collaborations.
05. “Never Let Me Down”
The College Dropout, 2004
While the collaborative relationship between Jay-Z and Kanye West really took off with 2001’s The Blueprint, where West produced tracks like “The Takeover,” “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” and “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)” – all of which would be high up on this list if we were to include strictly emcee/producer collaborations – the first time the two really went full-scale with it came on 2004’s The College Dropout. At the time, West was representing Roc-a-fella Records, so it only made sense that the label’s figurehead would make an appearance on his debut.
“Never Let Me Down,” which also featured J-Ivy, paints an interesting contrast between the Jay-Z and Kanye of then and the Jay-Z and Kanye of now. Jay-Z’s verse here could just as easily be a verse he just wrote. He raps about being the Michael Jordan of rap, his longevity in the hip-hop game, and closes out the song proclaiming himself a living legend. West, meanwhile, was rapping about money and jewelry even back then, but he was also still reeling from a car accident that nearly took his life, so there’s a resounding humility in his verse. Jay-Z is rapping from his throne here, while Kanye sounds hungry to break in as an emcee.
04. “Run This Town”
The Blueprint 3, 2009
“Run This Town” marks one of the pair’s most successful collaborations; the Blueprint 3 track topped the UK singles chart and climbed all the way to the second spot on the Billboard Hot 100 while going double platinum in the States. While Rihanna contributed vocals to the addictive hook and No I.D. split production credits with Kanye, this song is vintage Kanye and Jay-Z. Beyond being a commercial success, the song has to be considered one of the driving forces behind Watch the Throne. The argument could be made that “Run This Town” highlighted some of the off-center chemistry issues that West and Jay-Z sometimes have when splitting vocal duties, but even as a fairly straight-laced hip-hop single (with some minor qualms), the brilliance of this song is still hard to deny.
03. “Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)”
Late Registration, 2005
If it weren’t for Kanye’s remarkably productive 2010, the “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” remix would be easily the music giants’ most impressive tag team effort. By this point in 2005, Kanye had become a household name, so whereas “Never Let You Down” was something like a godfather of hip-hop giving the rub to an up-and-comer, “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” was the union of true main event players. While the original packs greater lyrical depth, Jay-Z’s inclusion on the remix from Kanye’s Late Registration became one of the greatest collaborations of stars in years. Jay-Z’s verse spawned the unforgettable phrase “I’m not a businessman/I’m a business, man” and the beat solidified Kanye’s spot – as if it were even necessary at this point – as the best producer going.
02. “Power (Remix)”
Single, 2010
The remix to “Power” doesn’t surpass the album version that appeared on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but it comes close. This song also represents Jay-Z’s turn to act as a table-setter for Kanye, whereas the relationship had been almost exclusively the opposite in the past. The most impressive part of Jay-Z’s verse is his reference to the infamous Taylor Swift incident, where it sounds as though he’s coming to the defense of his partner. But the pinnacle of the song comes when Swizz Beatz, who guest produces, drops in an explosion sound and twists the beat completely, sampling Snap’s “The Power” and calling on Kanye to go crazy. He obliges, naturally, and ignites one of the most memorable verses of the year.
01. “Monster”
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010
“Monster” is easily the best Jay-Z and Kanye collaboration to date, but that declaration doesn’t come without a bit of an asterisk. The real show-stealer on this song is Nicki Minaj, who unleashes one of the better mainstream hip-hop verses in recent memory, pummeling not just the two superstars on the track, but Rick Ross, who drops by for a short cameo, as well. Jay-Z actually spits the weakest bars on the song, if only because of the whole giggle-inducing “everybody wanna know what my Achilles heel is: love” line, but that’s more of a testament to how well everyone else does. Truly though, as is the case with most everything Kanye touches, it’s the unrivaled production that steers everything.
Honorable Mention:
“Swagga Like Us,” Paper Trail (T.I.), 2008;
“So Appalled,” My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010
