Watch the Throne Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam/Roc Nation ****

This is what you get when a brace of hip-hop heavyweights join forces. Jay-Z and Kanye West have worked together before, so these collaborations benefit from each knowing which buttons to push to get the best out of the other. It's a likeable mix of radio-friendly bangers (Beyoncé's soaraway contributions to Lift Off are perfectly paced in that regard); raw, tough, swinging rhymes, which power Niggas in Parisand Murder to Excellence; and some well-thought-out contributions from the likes of Odd Future crooner Frank Ocean ( No Church in the Wild). As you'd expect from a West production, the beats range all over the shop, from a sample of French ravers Cassius's Why I Love Youto La Roux shoulder-padding her way on to Prime Timealongside Public Enemy and Apache. A dynamic work from the leaders of the pack. See watchthethrone. com Download tracks: Niggas in Paris, Murder to Excellence, No Church in the Wild