Watch the Throne

Watch the Throne, the 2011 collab between Jay-Z and Kanye West, served as a challenge to every lesser lord in rap: just try to look this good at the top of the game. But if there can only be one, who would sit at the top? Jay-Z has a longer span of a career, more industry power, and a whole lot more dough — though his new look as a meme after Lemonade has weakened his case. Meanwhile, Kanye will “pop a wheelie on the zeitgeist” with every new release. As this squabble with Taylor Swift proves, Yeezy’s cultural capital has long surpassed the Hova. At this career retrospective, DJs ask the listener to claim their allegiance in the heroic battle.