In short, Mr. Gallagher blamed weak ticket sales for Britain's Glastonbury fest on the fact that rapper/CEO/coolest-man-alive Jay-Z is headlining, saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you break it, people ain't gonna go. I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? ... No chance." He later added, "I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. No way. No. It's wrong." Festival organizer Emily Eavis defended the choice, and noted the "interesting undercurrent in the suggestion that a black, U.S. hip-hop artist shouldn't be playing in front of what many perceive to be a white, middle-class audience."
There may very well be racial aspect to the discussion (I would say so, though it would be naive to limit it to an issue of race), but beyond race, on a purely musical level, who the fuck does Noel Gallagher think he is? Oasis released two decent but overrated albums and then a series of shitty ones, while Jay-Z released one of the elite rap albums of the 1990s with Reasonable Doubt and then proceeded to establish himself as arguably the greatest rapper of all time, particularly with the still unstoppable The Blueprint, one of the century's best records. The rock world (critics, fans, and musicians alike) needs to come to terms with the fact that a rapper can be one of the top musicians on the planet. I mean, outside of the next Radiohead or (hopefully) My Bloody Valentine record, is there any album more anticipated than whatever Kanye West is cooking up in the studio? I think some critics have reached a just level of objectivity over the last couple years, with records like Late Registration and Hell Hath No Fury topping (or coming damn close) many year-end lists. Still, the average music fan, casual or serious, will laugh at someone like Rick Ross (which is, of course, deserved) but not realize the utter brilliance behind Ready to Die or Enter the Wu-Tang.
Had to get that off my chest. I feel better.
