Hov hosted a listening session last night in New York City, New York where he previewed a handful of cuts from the record.

Last night, Jay-Z hosted a private listening session for his and Kanye West’s highly anticipated Watch the Throne, supposedly releasing August 2nd. The event took place in the Mercer Hotel, where journalists crammed into a suite converted into a recording studio where Hov debuted cuts from the LP from his MacBook Pro and held an impromptu Q&A.

According to several track-by-track breakdowns, Watch the Throne features only two guest appearances: Beyonce on “Lift Off” (for which they’re going to shoot a video) and Frank Ocean, who appears on a dubstep-inspired track and “No Church.” The latter features lyrics (via GQ.com) from Jigga such as,

“Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?”

“Living So Italian” samples “Ave Maria,” while “Otis Redding” opens with a Blade of Glory sample and back-and-forth lyrics between the two (via KanyeToThe.com). “Black on Black” focuses on intra-racial violence, while Hov expressed disappointment with “H.A.M.” and said it wouldn’t make the final cut of the album.

“It’s just so big and so much, you don’t want that sh– screaming in your house,” he said. “If we don’t make records that we like and represent the culture, we would be over.”

Jay said that the version of the album he played was the “third iteration of the project” and that previous records were scrapped for “being too big and calculating.” He also explained that he has already begun work on his next solo album, one of which features Frank Ocean – a connection made after he heard his Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape.

Jay-z said two songs already completed for his next solo album, and four concepts banked. Frank ocean appears on one already done. #WTT
-@Billboarddotcom

The recording of this album also inspired a new Jay-Z solo album, for which he has already completed two songs and is honing four more concepts—one of the contest winners actually nabbed the night’s biggest scoop, which is that Ocean will also appear on the first single from that forthcoming album. Jay also said that Kanye begged him not to release “Run This Town,” the first single from 2009’s smash The Blueprint 3, because it didn’t go over well at a Heavy Hitters barbeque. He lost that battle, obviously. Near the conversation’s end, Jay gently criticized President Obama when asked about his performance:

“Numbers don’t lie. Unemployment is pretty high. It’s fucked up, but he’s trying not to be the angry black man.”