Rap royalty: Jay-Z, Kanye West take the crown in Throne tour stop

After waiting impatiently for two hours, the lights dimmed and the crowd started shrieking. I joined in because Jay-Z, the reigning king of rap, appeared five feet from me. I was not prepared for that in the least.

If you haven't attended a Throne concert featuring two of rap's juggernauts, Kanye West and Beyonc's husband, you haven't truly lived a fulfilled life. I attended the show in Pittsburgh's CONSOL Energy Center, where most of the audience was as late as the performers themselves, but the show was well worth the wait.

For the first two songs, "H.A.M." and "Who Gon Stop Me," the two men performed on separate daisies on the floor, which slowly rose higher and higher. There isn't a better way they could have kicked off the show, which was more of a party than a concert.

After that, in one of my favorite images from the entirety of the Throne era, the American flag, dropped from the ceiling and "Otis" began.

Out of respect for every song they sampled on the album, the men played about 30 seconds of the actual tracks before going into their own twist on them. They paid tribute to Michael Jackson a few times, which was so heartfelt I actually saw an old lady in front of me wipe a tear away.

Two things that stuck out to me when watching Jay-Z and West perform: They know their audience very well, and also, they truly are best friends. The camaraderie and love these two men have for each other was tangible. This is why they are the best duo hip-hop has to offer, because while other pairings are more of a mentor and mentee relationship, this partnership is that of a big brother-little brother relationship.

West and Jay-Z's back and forth performances were dizzying and unexpected; they kept the audience on its toes because we ! never kn ew who was coming on next. I think they're at their best when they perform together. It's stunning to see two scarily talented men on stage together, hanging out like it's no big deal.

The best West performance was easily "All of the Lights," where he stopped the song twice to make sure all of the lights were actually shining. He said he wanted the crowd to "get what they paid for." It was the kind of performance I'd been waiting for since I first heard it a year ago.

Jay-Z's best solo performance was the forever-relevant "99 Problems." When he shouted out the second verse, with West assisting as the persistent cop, it was, for lack of a better word, magical.

Performing together, it's hard to pinpoint what their greatest tag-team was. At the top of the list would probably be The Throne performing "N----s in Paris" not once, not twice, but five times at the end of the show. It was both annoying and thrilling.

By the time the concert was over, I was sweaty and half-deaf with a sore throat and blind from the lights and never-ending flames, but it was worth the headache. It was totally worth it.