Jay-Z and Kanye elevate hip hop with the Watch The Throne tour. This show solidifies their place in the history books, and pushes hip hop culture to yet another realm. Radio stations, award shows, blogs, A&Rs, record companies need to capture the expanding crowd of mature and distinguished hip hop enthusiasts; the folks that drink their alcohol with no chasers on the rocks; the folks that own their own businesses and have multiple degrees; the folks that work hard on their feet all day, pick up their kids from after care and help them with their homework. These sophisticated listeners aren't wearing skinny jeans and aren't getting tattoos on their necks, and currently aren't being served appropriately by the culture that many of them fell in love with in the 80s. But I digress.
The 1st Mariner Arena was personally introduced to the titanic union of hip hop's most iconic ambassadors. Jay-Z and Kanye West unforgivingly, for 2.5 hours, belted the crowd with hit after hit when they hit the stage a little before 9:00 pm.
The diverse crowd of teenagers to baby boomers never saw it coming.
Boxing trainers urge fighters to make the first blow the hardest. H.A.M. performed at such ignorant decibels (thanks @cthagod) to a standing room only crowd is almost disrespectfully awesome.
Jay and Ye emerged to the crowd upon 2 stages separated by about 50 feet, suspended 40 feet off the ground. It was almost too much for true Throne fans (me). The sight of the two megamonstrous MCs is just about enough to shut down the system; and if for some reason the sound gave out and the show came to a tragic end, fans would've got their money's worth. That was just the intro.
The two sent shots back and forth from the elevated stage from the Watch The Throne album. It was only a matter of time before they formed Voltron on the same stage.
They came together over Welcome to the Jungle while video of big cats chasing mindless gazelles played in the background. The artistic use of the screens was just the right touch to an already blazing set list.
Jay and Ye seamlessly shared the stage for their collaborative hits and dug deep in the crates for their solo joints. It's almost unfathomable to consider and hear the depths of breadth of their songs; a 15 year soundtrack of hip hop culture; from Jay-Z's underground blazer Where I'm From to Kanye's Jurassic joint, Jesus Walks.
One of the nights realest moments took place when Kanye and Jay sat down on stage, mimicking two fraternity brothers on a road trip. They each reflected on their verses on New Day, the track where each MC penned a poetic gift to their unborn children. Kanye admits to the crowd that this is his favorite verse of all time. He raps "I would never let my son have an ego, you'd be nice to everyone where we go..." both nodding their heads to the spaced out Rza track. In a rare hip hop moment, Jay-Z says "If you're a real father, raising your kids, make some noise...THAT'S what cool." Just let that marinate for a minute. Coming from someone of his status and in this venue has to be a call-to-arms for fathers across the culture. Moving portraits of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were the backdrop of the Throne's hit Made in America; another moving and reflective moment.
There was a brief moment in the show where the energy waned, as Kanye performed some of his autotune-heavy tracks from 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Kanye fans didn’t mind, but the crowd matched Kanye’s melancholy delivery from the content-heavy tracks.
They reunited for the final set of their biggest hits; Big Pimpin, Gold Digger, 99 Problems, and Good Life, and Ni##as in Paris, which they performed two encores, followed by Jay-Z’s Encore. The crowd chanted “Hova,” until Jay encouraged us to return the love by chanting “Kanye.” Perfect.
I can’t think of two other MCs of their stature that could’ve share the stage with the passion, relevance, and impact with such ease and crowd-pleasing results.
I am already looking forward to seeing the show again in Washington, DC on November 3.
Exclusive photos from my good friend Stephanie (@hypesis) coming soon!
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