*****

For about 15 years from the mid-1990s, Pete Rock and CL Smooth held beef, occasionally exchanging barbed remarks in interviews.

The more recent reunification of these hip-hop heavyweights arrived at a time when the genre needed their signature soul, and they set the bar high tonight: fellow legends Slum Village proved a formidable opener.

Whatever words have fallen by the decades, there was no verbal filler for the headliners. A lithe and focused procession of deep grooves, classic samples and abrupt scratching saw Smooth show off his unrivalled lyrical style, the reference points of his flow ranging from Adam and Eve to Mike Tyson.

These days he resembles a trim wrestler, and his messianic gesticulations – holding the microphone like an Olympic torch while Rock summoned bolshy brass sounds on Mecca And The Soul Brother – dramatised the infectious mood of laidback, big beat positivity.

Their greatest hit, They Reminisce Over You, provided the mighty finale, but Rock’s emergence from behind the turntable, on The Creator, was the catalyst for a riotous few minutes in which both MCs suggested that the roof was on fire.

If any animosity remains between this dynamic duo, it’s reduced to a cinder when their talents combine.