For those non-Britons unaware of the importance of the Glastonbury Festival, it has long been the pinnacle in the rock calendar in the UK. Rain, mud or shine, many of the world's biggest bands have converged on this field in the middle of the English countryside every year for the last couple of decades, for a summer weekend that is always an excess of filthy sex, ***** and rock n' roll.
This year's decision to allow Jay-Z to headline at this year's Glastonbury has been highly controversial. Well-known rock musicians came out to protest against the very idea of a hip hop artist headlining the festival, predicting that Jay-Z would fall flat on his face, because that the event has a history of 'guitar music'. That's certainly true, but it almost always also features reggae, jazz, and world music, and has even had dance and techno headliners in the past. So why the protest against hip-hop? It's opened up a can of worms about whether black people and black music have a place in decidedly 'white' event like Glastonbury.
It was suggested that if he could survive this trial by fire in front of a crowd of potentially hostile dirty, muddy rock fans (these are the same sort of people who nearly bottled My Chemical Romance to death a couple of years ago), he would cement his reputation as the greatest rapper of his era. If he failed, the shame he'd incur might have meant the end of his career. Speculation was rife that in order to secure a positive reputation from the audience, he would increase the star quality by bringing Beyonce, Chris Martin of Coldplay and even Gwyneth Paltrow on stage.
In the end, he faced the crowd alone, and proved his critics wrong. From his cheeky dig at Noel Gallagher, to his subtle-as-a-sledgehammer attacks on George W. Bush and unalloyed support for Obama, he had the crowd eating out the palm of his hand. If it was ever in doubt, he showed that he was capable of playing any venue in the world, and that he is *the* most important man in hip-hop.
For some, it confirms the end of Glastonbury's symbolic status as a guitar event, for others it suggests that the barriers between 'black' and 'white' music are starting to come down. Whatever the case, Glastonbury will never quite be the same again.
You can watch the gig here on iPlayer (starts at about 30 mins in, although you can see Hot Chip and Massive ****** before that) : Premium Link Upgrade
[Set list included his major hits: 99 Problems, Dirt Off Your Shoulder, Big Pimpin', Jigga What, as well as covers of Wonderwall (Oasis), Rehab (Amy Winehouse), American Boy (Estelle ft. Kanye West), Umbrella (Rhianna), Punjabi/Knightrider Theme (Panjabi MC) and even bits and pieces of Back in Black (AC/DC) and Smack My Bitch Up]
This year's decision to allow Jay-Z to headline at this year's Glastonbury has been highly controversial. Well-known rock musicians came out to protest against the very idea of a hip hop artist headlining the festival, predicting that Jay-Z would fall flat on his face, because that the event has a history of 'guitar music'. That's certainly true, but it almost always also features reggae, jazz, and world music, and has even had dance and techno headliners in the past. So why the protest against hip-hop? It's opened up a can of worms about whether black people and black music have a place in decidedly 'white' event like Glastonbury.
It was suggested that if he could survive this trial by fire in front of a crowd of potentially hostile dirty, muddy rock fans (these are the same sort of people who nearly bottled My Chemical Romance to death a couple of years ago), he would cement his reputation as the greatest rapper of his era. If he failed, the shame he'd incur might have meant the end of his career. Speculation was rife that in order to secure a positive reputation from the audience, he would increase the star quality by bringing Beyonce, Chris Martin of Coldplay and even Gwyneth Paltrow on stage.
In the end, he faced the crowd alone, and proved his critics wrong. From his cheeky dig at Noel Gallagher, to his subtle-as-a-sledgehammer attacks on George W. Bush and unalloyed support for Obama, he had the crowd eating out the palm of his hand. If it was ever in doubt, he showed that he was capable of playing any venue in the world, and that he is *the* most important man in hip-hop.
For some, it confirms the end of Glastonbury's symbolic status as a guitar event, for others it suggests that the barriers between 'black' and 'white' music are starting to come down. Whatever the case, Glastonbury will never quite be the same again.
You can watch the gig here on iPlayer (starts at about 30 mins in, although you can see Hot Chip and Massive ****** before that) : Premium Link Upgrade
[Set list included his major hits: 99 Problems, Dirt Off Your Shoulder, Big Pimpin', Jigga What, as well as covers of Wonderwall (Oasis), Rehab (Amy Winehouse), American Boy (Estelle ft. Kanye West), Umbrella (Rhianna), Punjabi/Knightrider Theme (Panjabi MC) and even bits and pieces of Back in Black (AC/DC) and Smack My Bitch Up]
