Sunday, June 29, 2008

Jay-Z Silences Detractors at Glastonbury Festival


By Charlie Rem(allhiphop.com)
Jay-Z answered his detractors in commendable fashion at the Glastonbury Music Festival in Britain on Saturday.

The rapper took to the stage – with a guitar over his shoulder – and sang a rendition of Oasis’ hit song “Wonder Wall.”

Noel Gallagher of Oasis, a rock band from the UK, has opposed the rapper headlining the huge event since it was announced in February of 2008.

Jay-Z was greeted with cheers from Glastonbury festival-goers, who sang “Wonder Wall” with the Brooklyn-bred rapper. He quickly spun into his rock flavored “99 Problems,” which lyrics boast “I got 99 problems, but a b***h ain’t one.”

Beyonce Knowles, Jay-Z’s wife, attended the event and was noticeably excited as she watched her spouse perform, according to sources with AllHipHop.com.

“The world should be all about mixing culture,” Jay-Z said to UK radio personality Tim Westwood. “Hip-hop is music in its art form. It should be accepted and respected. It’s all the same thing, it’s just coming from a different perspective.”

Normally, Glastonbury caters to rock music, but organizers recruited Jay-Z in an effort to attract a younger demographic. Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher was the most vocal critic and said, "I'm not having Hip-Hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong."

However, throughout the festival, expressed a very different sentiment towards Jay-Z than Gallagher.

Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro, another headliner, paid tribute to their Hip-Hop counterpart. The band played a version of Jay-Z’s hit “99 Problems.”

The Gossip's Beth Ditto praised Jay-Z’s presence for elevating the festival, despite slow ticket sales.

"I'm so jealous of you, camping to see Jay-Z," Ditto said during The Gossip’s show. "Seriously, I'm so f**king jealous. Jay-Z: guilty of making this festival good."

The Glastonbury Festival is held on Worthy Farm near Glastonbury in Somerset, England over 800 acres. The festival began in 1970 with about 1,500 people.

The festival nearly sold out, moving about 142,500 tickets.

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