Strike while the iron is hot.

If we had to give Jay-Z and Kanye West one piece of advice right now, that would be it. After months of speculation and a thousand and one rumors about it, it sounds like their collaborative project, Watch The Throne, is finally ready to come out. Jay played parts of the album for a bunch of publications recently (like this one, this one, and this one). There’s been talk about a Beyonce-assisted single called “Lift Off” dropping soon. An official tracklist is available. You can even pre-order it right now!

But that doesn’t mean that Watch The Throne will be in stores before the end of the summer. In fact, because a single from the album hasn’t dropped yet and because it’s still tagged with “Coming Soon!” as a release date, we actually have reservations about saying that it’ll be out by the time Labor Day rolls around. However, if Jay and ‘Ye are smart—and we’re definitely not doubting that they are—they’ll have Watch The Throne in stores and online by the time August rolls around. And to show you why, we came up with a list of the five reasons they need to do it. Until then, we’ll be waiting to Watch The Throne.

1. The hype for the album couldn’t be any higher than it is right now.

Even without hearing a single track from it, Watch The Throne is already being discussed like it’s the best album of 2011. Why? Because after a collection of esteemed journalists sat with Jay and listened to the album a couple weeks back, the Internets got a heavy dose of respected folks saying nothing but great things about it the next day. That’s got the rest of us ready to hear what all the hype is about. If Jay and Kanye wait too long, that hype will inevitably die out.

2. These two artists have the star power to sell a ton of copies without a ton of build-up for their project.

There’s been a lot of talk about the fact that Jay and Kanye don’t have a proper single out right now or a video to support their project. We say: Screw it. This is Jay-Z and Kanye West we’re talking about right now. If they can’t sell a ton of copies of WTT, regardless of how much notice they give the public, then the music industry is in way worse shape than we thought.

3. Eminem and Royce Da 5’9″ just sold 160,000 copies of their album in the first week by announcing it, dropping a single, and then releasing the album quickly. The formula works!

People—us included!—aren’t patient like they used to be. They want to get their hands on something as soon as they hear about it, not wait six months for it. Look no further than the Em and Royce album, Hell: The Sequel. We know, we know, those two technically made us wait for more than a decade for that project. But they moved really quickly when they announced it this year and gave the people exactly what they wanted, even when their lead single, “Fast Lane,” didn’t blow anyone away. In other words, their quick turnaround time made the album a success. Jay and ‘Ye should consider that as they continue to fidget around and rap fans get more and more antsy.

4. The rap blogs are putting a lot of support behind Watch The Throne. For now, at least.

Photos of Jay and Kanye in the studio? Check. An official tracklisting? Check. A rumor about Kanye playing the album at a photo shoot? Check. It seems like there’s a new post about WTT on the rap blogs everyday. They’re giving this thing all the life it needs to drop in stores and move hundreds of thousands of units in the first week. But, seriously: How much more can they cover with regards to this album? There’s not much left.

5. Both artists are due to release solo albums sometime in the near future—which obviously won’t happen if this album is still sitting on the shelf.

We’re already starting to clamor for a new Jay-Z solo project and a Kanye West follow-up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. But as long as WTT isn’t in stores, we know that we have to wait that much longer to even begin to start talking about those two efforts. Let’s get this show on the road, fellas. We know you don’t want to rush it, but WTT would be the perfect album to get us through the dog days of August. Now, can we have it, please?

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