Jay Z has explained how he and Kanye West prevented their hugely anticipated album 'Watch the Throne' from leaking online before its release date - one of the only high-profile records in recent times to do so. The album has been kept under wraps for months, with staggered release dates and only a handful of listening parties for journalists.
Prior to its iTunes release on Monday (8th August 2011), the superstar duo prevented the record surfacing online prematurely - a rare feat in the era of digital music. During an interview with Angie Martinez on New York's Hot 97 radio station, Jay Z explained how offering the album digitally before a physical release was integral in keeping it from leaking, saying, "We made this album and it took us eight months.We should be able to release it the way we like, without everybody being up in arms.. When you send it out, once it leaves the plant and that's the end of it". Last week, the rapper's manager John Meneilly had adamantly told Twitter followers, "It is not going to leak". Jycorri Robinson, director of digital marketing for Def Jam, told XXLmag.com the superstar duo had gone to great lengths to prevent the record from emerging online, saying, "Kanye and Jay are just very tight with the music.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".
'Watch the Throne', which also features Beyonce, Mr Hudson and Otis Redding, is already gaining rave reviews following its release. The New York Post branded it, "Stellar work from two stars".