Jay-Z has been on top of the MC heap for so long you'd think he'd be fine ruling his monarchy without outside contributions.

But for his next set, [article id="1646715"]Watch the Throne, Jay[/article] is making a collaborative effort with Kanye West, and the Brooklyn legend tells MTV News he's excited about the project, especially given the [article id="1650699"]"Runaway" star's[/article] growing status as a hip-hop king.

"This is another level of that recording," Hov explained to us this week. "Because Kanye, I've seen him -- really he's like a brother to me -- I've seen him from the beginning to where he is now. And to see him as a producer and to see how he's growing as a producer and as an artist, for me, on another level, it's enjoyable. I'm watching the guy that I pretty much mentored become his own guy, with his own opinion. It's fantastic."

The project was originally slated to be an EP, but [article id="1650855"]West confirmed to MTV News[/article] in October that Watch the Throne would now be a full-length release.

"We putting out a whole album now," 'Ye said. "We had done five [songs] so far, but then a few of them kind of were out there, and I put them on my album. Sorry, Jay. But we got some more, and we're going to the South of France at the end of the month to just record new ideas. But we'll probably be done with the album in a day."

The pair ventured to France last month to record material as planned, and Jay-Z revealed he and West will head out to Australia soon to finish the rest of the album. The inspired duo recently completed seven songs in three days, according to Hov.

Are you glad Jay and Kanye are teaming up for a joint album? Tell us in the comments!