Hip-hop faceoff: Jay-Z and Kanye West at Consol

Two of the biggest names in the history of hip-hop: Jay-Z and Kanye West. Two utterly distinctive personalities. One album: "Watch the Throne." One stage: this Sunday night, it will be Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

The most anticipated hip-hop show of the year brings together the two voices in hip-hop that might matter the most -- the king and his heir-apparent. In pop music, where hype and reality often are indivisible, here's the rare event that might, just possibly, live up to expectations. Their album-collaboration "Watch the Throne" is good enough to indicate that it will.

Or, maybe Jay-Z finally is past his prime, and should have really made good on his often-threatened retirement. Maybe West's original, brash brilliance has been obscured too much by his often-obnoxious, ego-driven public persona, and a backlash is brewing, big-time. Maybe this is just a giant train wreck in the making.

It's a gamble, and an expensive one. Will it be worth it? Either way, we'll find out Sunday night.

'Watch the Throne' cultural references

Name-dropping is hard to avoid in hip-hop -- your lyrics have to rhyme with something -- but not too many albums can touch "Watch the Throne" for the sheer variety of people and brands name-dropped. Music magazine The Fader actually counted them:

• Socrates: 1
• Plato: 1
• Rainer Maria Rilke: 1
• Gucci: 2.
• Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen: 1
• Hermes: 1
• Jesus: 23
• Mother Mary: 3
• Betty Shabazz: 3
• Coretta Scott King: 3
• Martin Luther King: 3
• Malcolm X: 3
• Mark Rothko: 1
• Jean-Michel Basquiat: 1
• Andy Warhol: 1
• Pablo Picasso: 1
Oprah Winfrey: 2
• Steve Urkel: 1
• Naomi Russell: 1
• Russell Brand: 1
• Russell Crowe: 1
• Bill Russell: 1

Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter)

"I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man."

When they called their collaborative album "Watch the Throne," there was no doubt who was its current occupant.

Jay-Z is the heavyweight champion, the looming shadow, the embodiment of the rags-to-riches rap dream, the up-from-nothing Brooklyn kid who came back home in triumph, bearing gifts like an NBA team (the New Jersey, soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets).

Born into the grim Marcy projects, Jay-Z broke free from the streets with a seldom-equalled skill for intricate, off-the-cuff rhymes, radio-ready hooks and absorbing storytelling. Several of his albums, including "Reasonable Doubt" (1996) and "The Blueprint" (2001), are considered undisputed hip-hop classics.

He has threatened retirement several times, but never actually carried it out. Although no one has really tried to directly challenge him in a long time -- his lyrical feud with Nas did not end well for the other New York City rapper -- Jay-Z now is known for making money and marrying Beyonce more than anything else.

His business interests include the Rocawear clothing label (sold in 2007), co-ownership of the Nets, the 40/40 Club, the ad firm Translation, and cosmetics company Carol's Daughter, according to Forbes.

But his story probably is best told with numbers -- and, of course, cold, hard cash:

• 10 -- Ranking in Billboard magazine's list, "Artists of the Decade" for the 2000s, based on Billboard Hot 100 Songs chart performance. and Billboard 200 albums. Eminem is ranked No. 1, and Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce, is ranked No. 4.
• 10 -- Number of Grammy awards won.!
• 11 -- Number of No. 1 albums.
• 23 -- Top-chart ranking of his debut album, "Reasonable Doubt," in 1996.
• 1969 -- Year he was born, on Dec. 4.
• 50 million -- Estimated number of albums sold worldwide.
• $150 million -- Contract with concert promotion company Live Nation.
• $450 million -- Estimated net worth, according to Forbes. He's the second-wealthiest person in hip-hop, after P. Diddy ($500 million).

Kanye West

"No one man should have all that power/The clock's tickin,' I just count the hours..."

Rapper-producer-gadfly Kanye West could be the most ambitious, exciting figure in hip-hop -- but he's still best known for saying and doing stupid things in public. You can ridicule other rappers, or even the president, but give "America's Sweetheart" Taylor Swift a hard time at the Video Music Awards, and you probably should go into hiding for a few years.

West has hit the next-to-impossible trifecta of pop music success -- making music that appeals to critics, hardcore hip-hop heads and people who just want to roll down their car windows and sing along with the latest hits.

He doesn't have the back story the music industry typically wants in a rapper -- he grew up in a middle-class Chicago suburb, mom was a college professor, dad was a Black Panther-turned-Christian marriage counselor. He got his start as one of Jay-Z's favorite producers, giving songs like "Takeover" and "Izzo (H.O.V.A)" his signature sample-based spin.

On his own, West seems determined to retell his entire life's story through hip-hop. Others have turned personal pain into lasting music, but nobody else has written a hit single ("Through the Wire") about breaking his jaw in a car accident -- turning it into a meditation on fate and faith.

His first single, "Jesus Walks," was about faith an! d redemp tion for those least served by organized religion, "the hustlers, murderers, drug dealers." The song also openly wondered why radio will play songs about sex and guns, but not Jesus. Well, radio played this one.

Yes, there's the obligatory songs about partying, girls and street-level capitalism. But on songs like "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," he took a hard look at where his lust for bling comes from. It's not easy to find out that your own conspicuous consumption is directly connected to limbless children in West Africa, where diamonds are mined to fund brutal wars. It's even harder to craft a hit single out of it -- though a guest appearance from Jay-Z and that Shirley Bassey sample of "Diamonds Are Forever" certainly help.

Now, he has the freedom, the money and the determination to do whatever he wants.The weird, brutally honest, paradoxical personality he exhibited early on has gotten even less predictable as his by-now-planet-sized ego has inflated. His latest solo album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," is a chilly, intricate, obsessive-compulsive ode masterpiece of endless layers, reflecting a life where everything is within reach except happiness.

An expert opinion

Eric "E" Dan, founder of ID Labs Productions, has watched Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller go from ambitious, unknown kids to worldwide brands in a short period of time. He has produced the bulk of their output at ID Labs in Lawrenceville, putting Pittsburgh on the map for hip-hop.

Although Jay-Z and Kanye West technically are part of the competition, Dan admits to being "a huge fan of both."

"While I think there's always a multitude of factors that give an artist the kind of longevity Kanye and Jay have had, I think a lot of it has been their ability to reinvent their music yet be consistent as artists," Dan says. "Kanye, especially, has continued to evolve as a musician and lyricist. While Jay on the other hand hasn't gone ! out on a s many limbs musically, he's really made himself into a larger-than-life hip hop mogul and major entrepreneurial figure and example within the music industry."

Jay-Z has worked with so many great producers (including West), that picking favorite tracks isn't easy.

"To me, he's always been one of the few MCs that can have a great track without an incredible beat, because his lyrical and narrative ability is often enough to carry the song," Dan says. "That said, from a production standpoint, tracks like 'Public Service Announcement' and '99 Problems' (and many others) are just incredible pieces of music on their own."

West is respected for his ability to push the boundaries of hip-hop, as a lyricist and producer.

"I think Kanye definitely sets the bar (particularly with the last album) with how far you can take hip-hop production and still remain a figure in mainstream music culture," Dan says. "He's stretched the boundaries of what is considered hip hop and remained commercially viable in my opinion."

"Watch the Throne" is a top-shelf effort from both artists, which is becoming a rarity in hip-hop, Dan says.

"The duo format is something largely missing from mainstream rap these days, and it was really cool to hear them explore that," he says. "The music was top-notch from a production standpoint as well, in my opinion -- nice mix of modern and old-school textures and sounds."