There’s a reason why New York City scrapped Jay-Z and Eminem‘s initial plans to follow in the footsteps of Paul McCartney and play on top of the Ed Sullivan Theater’s marquee as part of their Friday appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. They are, after all, two of the biggest forces in music and their mere presence alone would have proved chaotic for the city’s evening rush hour.

There’s also a reason why Jay-Z, Eminem, and the Letterman crew then decided to get creative and move the duo’s scheduled performance to the rooftop of the theater. They are, after all, two of the biggest forces in music and their Letterman appearance provided a rare chance for an all-star live collaboration. Plus, it also served as a good promotional opportunity ahead of the duo’s upcoming dates in Detroit and New York.

What resulted was an episode of the Late Show that hadn’t been seen since the aforementioned Macca appearance. Dave and company dedicated their entire show to his musical guests, with Eminem handling the Top 10 List — the topic was Eminem’s pieces advice for kids — and Jay-Z sitting down on the couch to discuss Lebron James’ forthcoming free agency.

The evening’s biggest highlight of course came in the form of the program’s final 20 minutes (take into account the two commerical breaks squeezed in and it was actually only 12 minutes), which were dedicated to the rappers’ mini rooftop show. Three songs were played — Eminem tackled Recovery‘s “Not Afraid”, Jay-Z handled The Blueprint 3‘ s “On to the Next One”, and the two men came together for a collaborative performance for “Renegade” — all amidst the breathless of New York City’s skyline. Also worth nothing is Jay-Z’s ability to keep his composure despite some of the most lackluster crowd participation ever. (Dudes, if you don’t know the song, here’s some advice: don’t try to mouth the lyrics and/or move your arms in beat.) If that doesn’t convince you to lay down $300 for tickets, I’m not sure what will.

You can watch the performance in full below. Tickets for their upcoming tour dates can be obtained here.

“Not Afraid”

“On To The Next One”

“Renegade”

Eminem’s Top 10

Jay-Z Interview