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  EMILY ZEMLER  

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Jay-Z and Kanye West’s joint album, Watch the Throne, didn’t come out on July 4 like many had speculated. But fans can now pre-order the album in several versions on the duo’s newly formed website.

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There are four available versions of the record: a standard edition with 10 songs for $13.99, a deluxe edition for $16.99 with special packaging and four bonus tracks, and MP3 versions of both editions. The duo also released the album art for the record, which is as gold and flashy as you’d expect. The artwork was designed by Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci. Despite the pre-order and album art, the disc still lacks an official release date.
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Watch the Throne has now been in the works for nearly a year, recorded in Paris, London, Abu Dhabi, Australia and New York City. The album lists West, Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz, No ID and Lex Luger in the production credits and Beyonce and Bruno Mars are credited for offering guest vocals to a track called “Lift Off.” Other song titles include “Murder To Excellence,” “Illest Motherf—er Alive” and “Living So Italian.” West said in an interview last year that the record would be “very dark and sexy– like couture hip-hop.”
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West headlined the Essence Music Festival on Saturday and expressed his thanks to the crowd for their ongoing support. “I been around the world… got into a little controversy here and there,” West told the audience, according to PopEater. “Even though the media tries to lie to you every day I just wanna say I thank ya’ll for standing by me and supporting me even when they said my career was over.” Later he added, “I don’t do interviews anymore because the press be trying to kill me, I let the music speak for itself.”

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