The Concept: The biggest hip-hop stars in the world Jay-Z and Kanye West come together to perform all their greatest hits as well as tracks from their collaborative album Watch The Throne.
The Reality: One of the greatest music experiences imaginable.
It is hard to describe just how amazing this gig was. As a massive fan of both artists’ work, this was a dream come true for me and I was not disappointed. There were no backing dancers. No backing vocals for either artist. No gimmicks. No mediocre support acts. Just fantastic visuals, brilliant sound and two rappers at the top of their game
The show lasted over two hours with a mixture of solo performances and duets, which maintained momentum and kept things interesting. One minute it was Kanye with ‘All of the Lights’ and the next it was Jay with ‘Big Pimpin’, with all the enthusiasm in the world as if it was their first gig on the tour and not the last stop. There was a sense of true friendship between them, especially towards the end as they came to terms with this being the last tour date and so went out with a bang by playing ‘Niggas in Paris’ a grand total of five times, the crowd going wild each time and was a euphoric finale.
The staging was brilliant. For a few pieces, the rappers were raised onto platforms at either end of the arena, lit by a dazzling light show, pyrotechnics and flames. This wasn’t just a gig, it was an experience. Both artists interacted with the crowd, getting everyone to blare out the chorus’ of their most famous tracks. The standing section were particularly lively and I soon felt myself shouting the lyrics to ‘Gold Digger’ at the top of my lungs. Some personal highlights were ‘Who Gon Stop Me’, ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’, ‘All Of The Lights’ and of course the anthemic ‘Niggas in Paris’. These songs in particular struck a chord with the audience and were sung in unison by almost the entire arena.
This review was difficult to write as it is hard to justify how amazing the whole event. The video below (Click to Download) I took before the battery ran out and will say what I want to say and more. Hip-Hop is definitely not dead, and here are the kings…
