Perhaps on a break from working with Michael Jackson, Kanye West stopped by Maroon 5’s gig at New York’s Madison Square Garden last night to duet with the quintet on his “Heard ‘Em Say” (the Late Registration track that featured backing vocals from M5 frontman Adam Levine). After telling the crowd to get on their feet for a “special friend,” Levine introduced West, who quickly owned the stage with a mix of the song’s original lyrics and some freestyling (if we heard correctly, he made another reference to his ongoing feud with MTV).

The rest of Maroon 5’s set was a solid mix of material from 2002’s Songs About Jane — including a tease of the White Stripes‘ “Icky Thump” at the end of “Shiver” — and high-energy versions of tracks from their spring release, It Won’t Be Soon Before Long. And even though he made an appearance at Justin Timberlake’s MSG show in February for some “Dick in a Box,” Saturday Night Live’s Andy Samberg sadly didn’t stop by for a rendition of “Iran So Far Away.”

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