Kanye West & Jay-Z - H.A.M.

Hard as a motherfucker (H.A.M.... = acronym fail?) is the first official release from the rap heavyweights' collaborative effort Watch The Throne. Lex Luger lays down a colossal monster of a beat for Kanye & Jigga to go apeshit on, which ends up sounding like the rap music equivalent of a Roman-style gladiator bloodbath. Listen on YouTube.

Download Kanye West & Jay-Z - H.A.M.

Lloyd Banks & Co. - Start It Up (UK Remix)

With 50 Cent busy doing features, Tony Yayo never really having any talent to begin with and Young Buck wallowing in a gutter somewhere, Lloyd Banks has done well to sustain the G Unit badassery of back in the day all on his lonesome. It took surprise summer anthem Beamer, Benz or Bentley to really put him back on the map and now Banks is back to travelling across it, stopping off in the UK to enlist Giggs and Sway for the Start It Up remix. The beat remains the same as the original, a clattery and turbulent Swizz Beats synth-attack perfect for bumping in the whip, and we're left with the same verses from the Yanks (minus one from Fabolous). Sway and Giggs represent, and while the latter wouldn't exactly be my first pick to show off UK talent, Sway at least shows that British rappers can hold their own on these brash American possee cuts. No question though; Kanye's shamelessly cocky verse still reigns supreme. 

Download Lloyd Banks & Co. - Start It Up UK Remix 

Jay Z & Kanye West featuring La Roux - That's My Bitch

If you can part yourself from the genious sounds of Kanye West's Dark Twisted Fantasy for long enough, may I suggest you check out what is apparently the first leak from the Jay Z & Kanye West collaborative album Watch The Thrown (Kanye's spelling, not mine), in which they partner up with La Roux's Elly Jackson over an old-school boom rap production crafted by Q-Tip and sampling James Brown and the Incredible Bongo Band. The resulting beat is somewhat frenzied, in a good way, and Kanye and his big bro are on top form as usual.

Download Jay-Z & Kanye West featuring Elly Jackson - That's My Bitch