Bark + Bite

Kanye and Jay-Z release "N**gas in Paris" video a little late

So Kanye and Jay-Z finally got around to putting out a visual for their chart-topping hit, "Ni**gas in Paris." Unfortunately, it's just a concert video spliced together with footage from one of their stops on the Watch the Throne tour.

If only Jay-Z and Kanye had taken the time to conceive and film a hilarious (Will Ferrell could've guest starred!) visual to go along with this larger-than-life baller anthem. They could've, you know, actually gone to Paris to film it even. Instead, this concert video feels like little more than an afterthought. In this case, late really isn't that much better than never.

Lady Gaga loves her some Kanye and Jay-Z

Lady Gaga and Kanye West have enjoyed a relationship of (for the most part) mutual admiration. When Gaga hit the scene, Kanye seemed infatuated and stricken by the New York pop star's work ethic and massive pop songs. He quickly latched on to the star and proposed a joint tour. He even had his artist, Kid Cudi, sample her hit song "Poker Face" as his second single.

But things seemed dicey for the pair, when the Fame Kills tour was iced and Cudi was kicked off of Gaga's tour as a supporting act, after he got physical with fans. They seemed chummy at the VMAs this year when Gaga went as Jo Calderone, but in an interview with Steve Stoute, Gaga has confirmed that like everyone else, she's been spinning the hip hop duo's Watch the Throne album on repeat.

Recently I've been listening to the new Ye & Jay record. Kind of on repeat. I love it.

Not only do I love the music and have always felt that Jay-Z and Kanye were ahead of their time...

Alright, now. Gaga is still Team Ye. This is good. Let's put the Fame Kills tour back on, nix some of that heavy metal that's been polluting her pop music, set up some studio time for a Gaga/G.O.O.D. Music collabo and all will be right with the world.

Jay-Z and Kanye prove that they're friends forever in Watch the Throne tour

Subtlety has never been The Throne’s strong suit. The supergroup, separately known as hip hop juggernauts Jay-Z and Kanye West, released an album earlier this year full of showy, convoluted beats overlayed with equally flashy, I’m-richer-and-cooler-than-you verses. So, when talks began circulating of a joint tour, imaginations went wild.

Both are known for pretty spectacular stage shows. Jay-Z exhibits more stage presence than most rappers, which is intensified with lighting and the use of a full backing band. West's show is filled with all kinds of theatrics not limited to a full ballerina troupe or tailoring an entire show around a spaceship. So, a lavish spectacle of ancient Roman proportions was something many fans anticipated.

But, like the true innovators they are, The Throne went completely left. The roughly two-hour show in Baltimore, Maryland was surprisingly no frills. Just two MCs, a few props and lights and a DJ.

Kanye West joins Nigerian artist D'Banj onstage, formally announces him as G.O.O.D. music artist

You know what's been missing from hip hop music? The freakin' harmonica, that's what.

While harmonica playing did nothing for American Idol Taylor Hicks' brief and unsuccessful pop music career, the harmonica-playing D'Banj has managed to leverage his instrumental and vocal skills into an official deal with Kanye West's G.O.O.D. music label.

After Kanye pal'd around with Jay-Z and Beyonce at their nationally-televised babyshower, aka the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, he immediately hopped on a flight to NY so he could perform alongside Naija star D'Banj.

D'Banj introduced the larger-than-life rapper by playing a bit of "All of the Lights" on the harmonica. It's a curious thing to witness, to say the least.

Watch D'Banj and Kanye West take on "All of the Lights"

Big Sean throws down with Kanye in "Marvin & Chardonnay" video

You know, seen one Hype Williams video, you've seen 'em all. Hype Williams was once lauded as one of hip hop's finest music video directors, but his videos as of late have all been the same: colorful backdrops, big flashing font treatments and annoying transition animations.

So it's fair to say that Big Sean gets the standard Hype treatment here, complete with the customary scantily clad mixed and/or light-skinned girls. Don't ever change too much on us, music industry.

Watch the video for Big Sean's new single featuring Kanye below

After Watch The Throne, everyone is getting joint album fever

Photo: Wireimage

Oh, music industry. Why must everything be so copy and paste with you?

After the phenomenal success that Jay-Z and Kanye West saw from their collaboration on Watch The Throne, joint albums are on the tips of every rapper's tongues.

Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka put out a joint album, Ferrari Boyz, the day after Jay and Ye dropped Watch The Throne, but the two were quick to distance themselves from direct comparisons to the Throne. Which is all good and well, since the album only ended up selling a paltry 16,000 copies in its first week. In an interview with MTV News, Waka drove home the stark contrast even better:

"Trying to compare us to Jay-Z [and Kanye] is like comparing Dirk Nowitzki to Larry Bird — that's disrespectful," the rapper said, referring to the Mavericks star and Celtics legend, when he appeared on "RapFix Live" on Wednesday. "That's like two different classes."

Amen, Waka. Know your role and play your position.

But the joint album madness didn't end with Gucci and Waka. Drake too has been openly flirting with the idea of a joint album for quite some time. First, it was supposed to happen with his Young Money mentor, Lil' Wayne. There were even reports that had him accusing Jay and Ye of stealing his and Wayne's thunder, as he was under the impression that he had the idea first.

Album Review: Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch the Throne

Kanye West and Jay-Z have teamed up for a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration on Watch the Throne. This is good for the listener because the music that the two have managed to compile is of such a high caliber that it's worth much of the hype. Seriously, it's the kind of stuff that can reset the standards for the genre. Hip hop needs this album right now.

The track borrows much of its production sensibilities from the Kanye half of The Throne, but Jay-Z doesn't sound out of place on a single song. The opener, "No Church In the World," is completely parallel to "Dark Fantasy," the opening track on Ye's masterpiece album from last year, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It's all plodding percussion and ominous instrumentals as Jay and Ye relish in their god-like, Scarface state. Frank Ocean blesses the track with a soulful hook, wondering aloud if there's a limit to the powers of fame and wealth.

It's worthwhile to stop and laude Frank Ocean for his contributions to the Watch the Throne album. Frank provides the light to the darkness of Jay and Ye's verses, and on "Made In America," he creates a hands-in-the-air anthem with his chorus praising civil rights leaders and most of all, "sweet baby Jesus." With Frank going from being an almost-discarded refugee from Island Def Jam to providing hooks to songs for Jay-Z and Kanye, this album feels almost as triumphant for him as much as it does for Ye and Jay. And most importantly, it provides Frank with an invaluable platform as he embarks on the task of making his proper solo debut.

Kanye and Jay-Z laugh it up in "Otis" video

While Watch the Throne boasts some heavy-hearted material on tracks like "New Day" and "Murder to Excellence," the album's lead single, "Otis," is a decidedly light-hearted and frivolous affair.

Built almost entirely on a chopped up Otis Redding sample, Jay-Z and Kanye take turns trash talking as they boast about their wealth, their swag and their overall winning status. And in the Spike Jonze-directed video, Jay and Kanye look like they're having the time of their life, as they gut a Maybach, party with some model chicks and do donuts. Clearly, these two will forever be young at heart.

Watch Jay-Z and Kanye West get rowdy in their new video below