Watch out, hip-hop: If you don’t stay on top of your game, you might get bumped out of the limelight by other forms of pop music. That’s the meaning behind the title of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s brash, lavishly produced collaboration, as Jay himself has acknowledged.
Sure, it’s great when one musician can collaborate with another in a faraway country and end up with something impressive — even when the two never spend any time together in a studio. The wonders of the digital age have made it easy to carry on long-distance recording relationships.