Here it is, a second taste of the upcoming collaborative album Watch the Throne between Kanye West and Jay-Z (H.A.M. being the first of course). “Otis,” named after the late, great Otis Redding, features heavy sampling of the soul singer’s 1966 song “Try a Little Tenderness.”

As expected, Kanye and Jay-Z showcase their lyrical prowess on this old-school sounding track. Noticeably absent is a drum beat, auto-tune, and heavy bass that typically have been accompanying the hip-hop tracks of late. The result is a raw, unfettered hip-hop track that’s destined to go down as one of the year’s best.

Watch the Throne is set to be released via digital download on August 1st, while physical CDs will be in stores on August 5th.

Otis feat. Otis Redding by watchthethrone

Watch the Throne Tracklist:
01. No Church in The Wild (feat. Frank Ocean)
02. Lift Off (feat. Beyoncé)
03. Niggas in Paris
04. Otis (feat. Otis Redding)
05. Gotta Have It
06. New Day
07. Prime Time
08. Who Gon Stop Me
09. Murder to Excellence
10. Welcome to The Jungle
11. Sweet Baby Jesus (feat. Frank Ocean)
12. Love You So (feat. Mr Hudson)

Bonus
13. Illest Motherfucker Alive
14. H.A.M.
15. That’s My Bitch
16. The Joy (feat. Curtis Mayfield)

Back in December, portions of Kanye’s “Monster” music video were leaked, much to our delight. We were shown a very dark, macabre kind of music video complete with hanging corpses, beheadings, and S&M.

Now, with the release of the official video for the hit single off of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, we get to see English director Jake Nava’s work as it was meant to be seen (and it’s more twisted than we could have imagined).

The music video for Kanye’s “All of the Lights” has just been released. It’s an amalgamation of words and bright colors that’s wild enough to make your head explode. I love Kid Cudi’s little dance at the end. And as usual, Rihanna looks absolutely amazing.

The first single for Kanye West and Jay-Z’s hotly anticipated album Watch the Throne has finally been released, and it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The song is called “H.A.M.” and it brings a new sound for the two hip-hop superstars. The opening of the song made me double check to make sure that I didn’t accidentally play the Tron soundtrack. You should definitely expect to hear this song blow up over the next few weeks.

Here’s a track that didn’t make it onto the final version of Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. “Eyes Closed” has a sound that makes me think it was destined for 808s and Heartbreak rather than Kanye’s latest album. It’s definitely a solid track, which makes me wonder why it was left off.

Kanye West and Jay-Z have been working on an album together over the last few months. The album, Watch the Throne, was originally set to be released back in the summer. After some delay, we now know that it’s going to drop next week, according to Kayne himself. He made the admission during his New Years celebration with Jay-Z and Rihanna. Considering the fact that these are two guys at the very top of their games, it should be nothing short of mind-blowing.

Kanye West’s highly-anticipated music video for his hit song Monster, featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj, was leaked hours ago. Earlier this month, Kanye released a 35 second teaser for it, which drummed up a ton of controversy– namely because there appeared to be dead models all over the place. With the leak of the full video, we can see that those dead models are actually zombies. Awesome.

Take a look at the 1:55 mark to see a Justin Bieber lookalike getting attacked by zombies.

The audio quality is a little iffy, but that’s what we get for watching a leaked version of the video.

Every Friday for the past month or so, Kanye West has been releasing tracks off of his upcoming album, Dark Twisted Fantasy. I’m particularly stoked because up until all of this, he seemed to be laying low and keeping out of the spotlight nearly a year. Maybe it’s due to the fact that he’s now obsessed with Twitter.

In case you haven’t been keeping up, below is a rundown of the stuff he’s released. I’m really loving “Monster,” a track that Courtney first gave me a heads up on, and “Runaway,” which was performed at last night’s VMAs.

Power (remix) ft. Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz

Monster (feat. Jay-Z Rick Ross Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj)

Devil In A New Dress

Good Friday ft. Common, Pusha T, Kid Cudi, Big Sean & Charlie Wilson

Runaway (feat. Pusha T)

Dark Twisted Fantasy is slated for release on November 16th.

Check out Jay-Z’s new music video for one of the sleeper hits off of The Blueprint 3, “On to the Next One.” The song’s main hook samples one of the more obscure lines from French duo Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.”, much in the same way that T.I.’s “Swagga Like Us” sampled M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes.”

Is it just me, or is Jay-Z going for the Kanye West look with those shades, leather gloves, and futuristic diamond-padded jacket (complete with popped collar)?

Photo credit: NRK P3

I’m no expert here. I’m simply and honestly telling you the songs that I loved this past year – polls, charts, blogs, magazines aside. I avoided adding/removing songs just to reach some practical number, so there are only 24.

Here we go with the very subjective and biased Top 24 Songs of 2009!

24. ‘This God Damn House’ – The Low Anthem
Ok, so yes this is a 2007 song, but this version is from the August HearYa Live Sessions. I watched Ben Knox Miller perform this live at Bonnaroo, and it involved whistling and two cell phones for some funky reverb and overall amazement. Slow, endearing, and heartbreaking.

23. ‘Devout’ – Islands
To some, Islands’ third album Vapours was disappointing, but this song is a sure highlight. Yes there’s a bit more pop than usual, but that’s not such a bad thing after all.

22. ‘Boys Boys Boys’ – Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga

I had a love hate relationship with this chick for a while, but we’ve finally come around, she and I.

After incessant demands to play this song from my roommate and best friend Kristen, it dawned on me that this song, in all its clichés and questionable claims about boys and girls, is absolutely fantastic. She’s turned out as many hits as Talyor Swift, if not more. But I can’t really stand Swift’s music, so I say, Lady Gaga for the win.

The Lady’s got talent, there is no denying it – drink a little, dance a lot, listen to this song.

21. ‘Wet Hair’ – Japandroids
Newly discovered by a playlist given to me by a good friend. It’s been a while since I’ve come across a good punk band since… I don’t know, Brand New’s Your Favorite Weapon (yeah, I went there). So, so simple but full enough for me. Plus you got those cutesy lyrics that work so well with gang vocals and angular guitars. “Let’s get to France so we can french kiss some French girls!”

20. ‘Daylight’ – Matt & Kim
I met this couple two years ago at ‘Cuse, and I saw why they have so much fun. Couldn’t have be more enthusiastic to play a show with a 20-person crowd. Doesn’t it sound like Matt is smiling when he sings? It’s because he is. Their sound has certainly matured since then their self-titled, and I love this track off of Grand.

Bonus: Be sure to check out the Troublemaker remix of ‘Daylight’ featuring De La Soul

19. ‘Lust for Life’ – Girls

Christopher Owens and JR White of Girls

Need a little light in your life? Give this song a play, and you feel like you’re in a soft glow photo with a Free People model in the summertime… in the 1920s. Did I mention Jay Gatsby’s there, too? Bottom line: this song is euphoric.

18. ‘My Girls’ – Animal Collective
They’ve finally broken into the realm of mainstream. Did all the acid-dropping hipsters die? No! It pleases the masses: AC’s trademark repetition, a handful of appeal, and free flowing transitions that make me want to do drugs. Just kidding. Fun fact: I once compared this song to Marxism in a philosophy paper and got an A.

17. ‘Stuntin’ Like My Daddy’ – Lil Wayne & Birdman ft. Okkervil River by Team Teamwork
Whew! That’s a mouthful. Team Teamwork’s Good-ass Remixes took the best of hip hop and combined them with the best of indie rock. The result? A whole lotta wonderful.

16. ‘Heartbreaker’ – John Legend feat. MSTRKRFT
Poppy, a little jazzy and a good beat. In other words, it’s catchy as all hell. John Legend’s voice is like butter.

15.  ’Goji Berries’ – Rubik
These Swedish rockers took my heart when I discovered this song. Talk about great transitions. From beginning to end, I think this song is masterful – demanding and noisy to cotton candy sweet then a little rag time followed by some intense horn work.

14. ‘Temazcal’ – Monsters of Folk
The beast breathes sweetly and sadly with this ballad. My favorite track of the highly anticipated debut album, and it’s nothing short of beautiful in a heavy sort of way.

13. ‘Gifted’ – N.A.S.A. feat. Kanye West, Santigold, and Lykke Li
The favorite track of beat bumpers in outer space. Fast paced and sparkling with the fluidity of boom-pow songbird Lykke Li.

12. ‘Hoochie Coo’ – Black Keys feat. Mos Def and Jim Jones

Blakroc's Mos Def

Can you say, power trio? I’ve been a long time fan of Black Keys, and this collaboration (along with the many collaborations on Blakroc) makes for a great song. Bluesy pulsing with the oh-so-cool vocals of Dan Auerbach and Jim Jones coupled with none other than Mos Def.

11. ‘Make Her Say’ – KiD CuDi feat. Kanye West, Common, and Lady Gaga
A little raciness is best justified with cleverness. This song is quiet and slow but gives us all a big boom. It’s a little amazing in that nature. The sample of Lady Gaga is taken from her acoustic version of ‘Poker Face,’ which is one fierce display of her musicianship.

10. ‘Knotty Pine’ – Dirty Projectors feat. David Bryne
Short, sweet, and upbeat. Angel Deradoorian’s voice is phenomenal. Not the best example of their usual amazing harmonizing skills, but still lovable.

9. ‘Best I Ever Had’ – Drake

Jimmy? Last time I knew you were in a wheelchair! It’s hard to drop your child star rep, but Drake has earned himself respect in the realm of music. Sometimes I get Degrassi flashbacks when I listen to him, but that’s going away. Fan favorite, also my favorite.

8. ‘So Insane’ – Discovery

Rostam Batmanglij (from Vampire Weekend) and Wes Miles (from Ra Ra Riot) make up Discovery

Who knew that the synthesis of Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend would actually involve synths? Well, it’s love for me, and this song particularly is a sort of anthem for the spirited youth with big hearts. Uplifting and fun, not too fast but quick enough… like a college hookup.

7. ‘So Far Around the Bend’ – The National
Yes, another one from Dark Was The Night. Nostalgic meets a folky march to make for one hell of a song. I like how he seems to really have the girl pegged in this song. It’s personal, but thankfully not too delicate.

6. ‘Foreground’ – Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest took flight this year, and undoubtedly there were some gems on this baby like ‘Two Weeks’ and ‘While You Wait for the Others.’ But, this song is quite possibly one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in some time. It’s a subdued side of the Griz, but still has a low growl that separates it from the saps.

5. ‘Soft Shock (Them Jeans Acoustic Remix)’ – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I do really love the original, but there’s something about this remix that has me 100 percent hooked. The timpani, the bongos, the strings. They soften the song, which sort of make the shock bigger. It tugs at my heart a bit, but keeps me smiling.

4. ‘Little Secrets’ – Passion Pit
This was my ringtone for the whole summer and then some… even my mom was dancing when I got a call. Falsettos and synth riffs reminiscent of an old Sega game, who knew it would sound so good? Passion Pit did.  Good job, fellas, Boston’s proud!

3. ’1901′ – Phoenix

Phoenix

From one of my favorite albums of the year! Yeah it’s in a car ad now, but what can you do? Kings of Leon’s ‘Molly’s Chambers’ was featured in a car commercial about 4 years ago, and they didn’t die and go to mainstream hell… just purgatory (we’re praying for you, Aha Shake Heartbreak was phenomenal!). It’s well composed, brilliantly repetitive, and with just enough pop to keep it up. Fun fact: when Phoenix performed on SNL this year, they were the only band to play three sets besides U2.

2. ‘What Would I Want? Sky’ – Animal Collective
This was a late comer in the running, so I apologize for the double Animal Collective, but they are my favorite. I was somewhat disappointed with Merriweather in its entirety, so this song was a great surprise off of their Fall Be Kind EP. I’m no Dead head, but it’s noteworthy to mention that this track is the first ever to have a licensed sample from the Grateful Dead (‘Unbroken Chain’). It’s dreamy, swirly and floaty, what else would you expect from these crazies?

… Drum roll (thanks for sticking with me)…

1. ‘Dominoes’ – The Big Pink
A bit of an underdog, but I couldn’t stop playing it since I first heard it. I would sing it around my apartment without knowing more words than, “These girls fall like dooominoooooess.” What is it about this song? I can’t really point it out, even though I feel like I should have more justification, being my favorite song of the entire year and all. It’s sort of like my girl crush on Zooey Deschannel. She’s above average but not drop dead anything, yet I love her more than a straight girl should ever love a girl celebrity. There’s my analogy, because I don’t have real words for this song.

OK, So there you have it. I’m sure you will disagree (and hopefully agree a little, too). Happy New Year!