I wrote this back in August 2011 when Watch The Throne dropped. Just now found it:

Jay-Z and Kanye West — Watch the Throne review

About 10 years ago, a young producer from Chicago got the chance of a lifetime to team up with rap’s Brooklyn-based god. A decade later, we are lucky enough to see Kanye West and Jay-Z’s development as artists with Watch the Throne. Miraculously, Watch the Throne did not fall victim to a leak, as nearly all releases do nowadays, allowing rap’s juggernauts to unleash a complete surprise to the public despite the hype around it.

WTT kicks off with the croons of Odd Future member Frank Ocean before Hova delivers a Greek history lesson on “No Church in the Wild”. Meanwhile, on “Lift Off,” Jay’s wife Beyonce powers the chorus and manages to impress in not only Kanye but her husband’s presence. “Niggas in Paris” brings out the cleverness in Kanye, spitting lines like “Prince William ain’t do it right if you ask me/’Cause if I was him, I would’ve married (Mary) Kate and Ashley.” This is followed by the quinescential Kanye-produced track “Otis” where both rappers go back and forth over the Otis Redding sample. “Gotta Have It” is perhaps the funnest track on the album, fueled by an oriental sound produced by The Neptunes, with both rappers once again helping each other out in their verses. “New Day” is a sweet song that serves as an ode to both rappers’ unborn sons where Kanye alludes to his mother’s death while Jay-Z says he will never leave his son, unlike his own father. “That’s My Bitch” and “Welcome to the Jungle”, while good tracks, seem to get lost in the midst of greater songs, but the album picks up again on “Who Gon Stop Me” (Chiddy Bang fans might find this song familiar). The beat is asking for a sound system to show it off on while the album hits a high lyrically. “Murder to Excellence” hits on many social issues in the African-American community and Jay references his supposed involvement with the Illuminati secret society. Frank Ocean comes back for “Made in America” and steals the show with his “sweet” singing to “baby Jesus” before Watch the Throne ends on a strong note. “Why I Love You” could be said to mostly be a Jay-Z track, but the chorus, featuring the Scotsman Mr. Hudson, and beat take the cake.

No album is perfect, but for as hyped up as this project was, Jay-Z and Kanye West manage to create something beautiful. They also successfully proved that two great rappers could merge together, despite …Artists like Chris Brown and J. Cole (a protege of Jay-Z) released mixtapes in the past few days, but with this release, Jay-Z and Kanye deliver a deafening warning shot to the peasants below them - Watch The Throne.