S. Samuel
With Jay-Z and Kanye West's long-awaited Watch the Throne album finally seeing its release today, Def Jam's Director of Digital Marketing Jycorri Robinson reveals how the rap duo kept their LP from leaking prematurely to the masses.
Citing Jay and West as “tight” with their music, Robinson said both artists made sure to be in the studio together while laying down verses.
“Kanye and Jay are just very tight with the music,” he explained in an interview “Even so far as to where they’ve been, Kanye and Jay have been at every listening session, every event, that there has been and that’s because they’re holding that music so tight to them. There hasn’t been [any] copies floating around the [Def Jam] office ’cause that sh*t is in a vault. They just took it back to the old school, man. They recorded the entire album together; no verses emailed back and forth. It’s just tight eyes on it, only one or two people having access to it.” (XXL Mag)
A few days ago, Jay’s manager John Meneilly promised the LP would not leak.
With less than a week to go before Watch the Throne hits iTunes, don’t expect any leaks. Those hoping to get their hands on Jay-Z and Kanye West’s collaborative album early are in for disappointment. “It is not going to leak,” tweeted a confident John Meneilly, Jay-Z’s manager. In order to prevent the album from leaking in advance, digital and physical release dates were staggered. (Rap-Up)
Earlier in the week, Jay said the project’s long, drawn out process was to help prevent leaks.
“We made this album, it took eight months. We should be able to release it the way we like without everyone being all up in arms,” Jay said in an interview with radio host Angie Martinez. “The real reason behind it is was we didn’t want the music to leak. We wanted to present to the people in it’s entirety. When you send it out, once it leaves the plant and that’s the end of it.” (Hot 97)
Anxious fans may now purchase the album through online music retailer iTunes.
Finally, the much-anticipated and oft-delayed Kanye West and Jay-Z collaboration “Watch the Throne” is out. The album, in its standard and deluxe forms, was available on iTunes starting at midnight. Last week news broke that West and Jay-Z had delayed the start of their tour. The first date is now scheduled for Oct. 29 in Atlanta. “Watch the Throne” features many all-star collaborations, including with RZA, Q-Tip and Beyonce, who sings on the single “Lift Off.” (CBS News)
Check out the album teaser down below:
