Pop music: Jay-Z and Kanye West at Staples Center

The long-gestating project from Jay-Z and Kanye West, “Watch the Throne” combines the strengths of two of the most acclaimed rappers of the last two decades, who have worked together often but never on a collaborative full-length album. It couples them with some of today’s most respected producers, including RZA, DJ Premier, the Neptunes, the Jugganauts, Swizz Beats and Q-Tip. The result is a cocksure, fiery and smart, if problematic, collaboration that showcases the pair’s distinct lyrical skills, their way around a metaphor and an ability to execute a grand narrative and the details that turn it into truth. Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. Sun.-Tue. $59.50-$250. staplescenter.com