“If we talk about classics do my name get brought up?” This is a question posed by Kanye West on Diamonds from Sierra Leone. It inevitably makes us reminisce about our favourite hip hop moment from the last twenty years and the artists that people continue to boast about witnessing on stage. We often have a hard time thinking about today’s music as classics as the tracks seem to need a little time and accompanying nostalgia to receive their due credit.

Being able to witness Jay-Z and Kanye West share a stage on their Watch The Throne tour seemed to transcend our understanding of time. Watching the colossal pair in action reminded us of just how impressive their resumes are from the past 10+ years. We daydreamed ten years into the future, boasting to our peers about how we were there in person for the historic Watch The Throne tour. Hip Hop history is truly unfolding in-front of us. This will be looked at as the equivalent of Biggie and Tupac sharing stages (once a little time and nostalgia are added to the mix). Unfortunately when Kanye or Jay-Z share this revelation it is not appreciated so I will go ahead and make the prediction for them.

The Air Canada Center in Toronto was sold out for the event and the whole city seemed to be buzzing about the show. Expectations were high and social media avenues were bustling. The show had no opening act and opened up in grand fashion with Kanye and Jay-Z on opposite sides of the floor, each with their own stage that slowly elevated several stories into the air (pictured). Jay-Z was dressed in his traditional all-black-everything, a Hublot timepiece (yes the watch alert mentioned in Otis), American Flag bandana and his Ricardo Ticsi Watch The Throne t-shirt. Kanye was considerably more adventurous with his wardrobe; Air Yeezy 2s on his feet, leather pants, a leather kilt and an extra long Ricardo Ticsi designed Watch The Throne t-shirt printed with a saber-tooth tiger influenced Kanye West face.

The energy they brought to the set was unrelenting throughout the two hours and twenty minutes of pure entertainment. The two moved around the venue between the multiple stages accompanied by lights, fire and video screens mostly featuring menacing predators (lions, tigers, rottweilers, eagles, etc). Kanye and Jay-Z opened the show with H.A.M. followed by a few hits from the album. Being the crowd-pleasing entertainers they are, Jay-Z then went into a handful of solo tracks followed by Kanye reciprocating with some well chosen singles of his own. They went back and forth between their Watch The Throne content and their solo material, taking care of the high energy crowd with some of our favourites including 99 Problems, Run This Town, Can’t Tell Me Nothing, Flashing Lights, Power, Stronger, Monster, Big Pimpin, H to the Izzo, Jesus Walks, Touch The Sky, Dirt off Your Shoulder, Empire State of Mind and more.

There was only love for the two as they got closer to the end of their set and things approached Niggas in Paris, the high energy undisputed single of Watch The Throne. Ye and Jay managed to extend the two minutes of versus in the most logical way possible: they played the song three times in a row. The crowd went absolutely crazy each time the song began again and were elated when Kanye and Jay-Z came out for an encore. It was an absolutely amazing show that seems to have blown people’s expectations away. The two left the stage with some well chosen and humble words. They thanked the crowd for allowing them to live their dream and encouraged anybody else with a dream to pursue it; everybody stands a chance to make it.