Anticipation for Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch The Throne has been building since August of 2010, when Kanye announced the project would be a five-song EP. In the months leading up to the August 8 release of the album, representatives from Universal Music Group, the parent company of Def Jam, who is releasing the album, have taken various measures to make sure the album did not leak prematurely. Advertising firm GroupM partnered with UMG and announced what it described as “an aggressive new anti-piracy policy.” The policy listed various Hip Hop sites and blogs (including HipHopDX.com) and essentially linked them with illegal peer-to-peer and file sharing sites. This announcement came despite the fact that many artists and music industry insiders within the UMG umbrella were and are still voluntarily giving material to the sites and blogs in hopes of free promotion.
In the meantime, Jay-Z’s manager John Meneilly also assured listeners the album wouldn’t leak. Yet when Jay and Kanye held a private Watch The Throne listening session at New York’s Hayden Planetarium, Hip Hop blogger DDotOmen snuck in some recording equipment and posted low-quality snippets of the songs on the Internet. Combat Jack and Dallas Penn addressed the issue on their PNC Radio Internet show, and Mike Dean, who mastered and presumably co-produced on Watch The Throne, gave his thoughts on the leaks.
“Just respect people’s work, you know?” Dean said. “We worked a long time on the album and then fucked up quality shit like that comes out, and it’s disrespectful. It’s like putting your finger in someone’s painting and just fucking it up.”
While some defended DDotOmen for potentially giving access to the millions who weren’t invited to the session, others saw it differently. Having allegedly crashed the session uninvited, the famed blogger wrote a rather favorable review of the album.
“All the other bloggers did the same thing, and they didn’t post [leaks],” Dean offered. “It fucks up the surprise when you hear all the songs for the first time in fucked up quality.”
Those interested will get a chance to hear the full album in all its digitally mastered glory, when Watch The Throne drops next Monday.
Really? DDotOmen, if this is true, is lame beyond comprehension.
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-combat-jack-show/id412308823
Mike Dean Houston’s top hip hop engineer!! Maybe the whole rap game!! He is doin jay-z and kanye’s project and been doing work for kanye.
With BET and the radio in the toilet, these blogs are the only way I get to find out who the new artist are. I don’t condone sneaking equipment into an event like the listening party, especially if its gonna be sucking quality. If it wasnt for these sites, I wouldn’t have found out about J. Cole or Wale (former Universal Artist). But here’s the kicker, They have 50 Cent’s site ThisIs50.com on the ban list. No wonder why Fif is fed up with Interscope.
buy the album so the artist dont got da make corny records
I heard kanye ate a live somalian child before each recording session.
cool joke bro.
who cares no one buys cd’s anymore anyways leak that shit so we can rip it and pass it to the homie.
or you can just buy it..
Um. I still buy CD’s for hardcopy’s. Besides, who doesn’t want a dope album for the long run, and original?
Hey Donny Dickhead, go buy a better name!
People are just funny. Whats wrong with spending a few bucks on a CD? we spend more on mcdonalds in a month so just get the original copy. Its like collecting something that is good.
mcdonalds is a necessity i need to eat. cds get scratched in a month most people i know have a ipod in their car or listen to it through a aux cable. unless you have a bucket for a whip you dont really need a cd anymore.
ALL TRUE HIP HOP FANS MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT THE SONG OF THE DAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLEm-AjpM6E
THIS IS YOUTUBE’S SONG OF THE DAY ^^^^^
(spam free zone2011)
Wow, this nigga snuck in and recorded the work, and posted low-qaulity leaks. Glad I didn’t even know about them when it happened, cause I would’ve been tempted to listen. Oh well, I’m copping the album anyway.
I assume this is the same Mike Dean that was co-producing independent albums with Daz Dillinger back in the late 90’s-early 2000’s? Looks like he’s making big moves now! I had no idea he worked so closely with Kanye over the past years. Good for him!
Yes. He helped produced alotta hits for Rap A Lot also. He’s the shit.
Man these rich fucks don’t need the money. GIVE DAT SHIT UP and LEAK THE FUCKER ALREADY!! If this shit sucks I’m gonna lmao!!!
people should get paid for their work independent of them being rich or lack their of.
im mad this jank aint leak yet!
why does this version of Otis sound like this on youtube? the pitch is fucked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyJ09r7_OR4
Thats so the copywrite police dont take it down.
im’a download this bitch and seed till 100 gig so even niggaz in fucking chernobyl can download that shit in 10 sec
Thanks bro! people in the former USSR dont fuck with racism at all my nigga!
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
REAL TALK
please do on extratorrent,lol
im goin to download it for free because i can
It’s pretty simple. Don’t let shit leak, hold on to it tight.
Why do you think they’re releasing it digitally 1st? The have it locked & key (no hardcopy) until the release date. It’s a smart business move. By releasing the hardcopy the following week, sales have already begun digitally.
OMG the album sounds epic! Although the snippet leaks are LQ sounds tuff. Who Gon Stop Me!!
who wants to hear it if you haven’t already???
who wants to hear it if???
This unauthorized leak shit is wack.
Devin is a fool for that pic.
Damn. Everyone on here is talking about downloading the album….and these the same people that are wondering why hiphop is dying. SUPPORT GOOD MUSIC (J.cole, Jay Z, Kanye, Jay elec, mf doom) dont download the shit. yall cant spend $10? really? Watch if yall saw Jay or Kanye in person you would be showin them all love (even the haters fake muhfuckas) when whole time you dont even support them as artist. Its about more then money fools…We control the industry the industry gives us (the consumers), what they THINK we want. we have to show them what we want.
TRUE!
thats a funny ass picture fuckin pothead Devin the dude tryna snatch Mike Deans shit and i think its gonna be a good album just because mike dean is involved dude is a legendary producer and mix engineer
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