Story by Matt Kivel

This past weekend, Jay-Z made his hotly-anticipated headlining appearance at the Glastonbury music festival. The controversy and subsequent debate about whether or not a rapper should headline a predominantly rock 'n' roll festival, reached a fever pitch a few months ago when Noel Gallagher of Oasis publicly derided Glastonbury organizer Michael Eavis for his decision:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you start to break it than people aren't going to go. I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance. Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music ... I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong." (NME)

Now, the Gallaghers have always been endearing for their seeming obliviousness to modern trends in both music and culture -- they still parade around like it's the golden age of rock stardom, engaging in drunken punch-ups and a host of other shameless cliches -- but never has Noel seemed more out of touch and startingly irrelevent than he does in this situation.

Despite the groundswell of protest created by the controversial remarks, Jay-Z was greeted this past weekend by the Glastonbury faithful (100,000 strong) with an overwhelming display of enthusiasm. The hip-hop titan strutted onto the stage with a Fender strat strapped around his neck as Oasis' "Wonderwall" blared through the main stage PA.

He ended up doing a karaoke rendition of the tune, singing along haphazardly, forgetting words and laughing while the crowd cheered him on. It was a not-so-subtle flipping of the bird to Gallagher and everyone else who rejected the notion that the Brits were ready for something a little bit different than the NME-centric Glastonbury fare.      

Jay Z's "Wonderwall" Glastonbury 2008 / Oasis' "Wonderwall," Glastonbury 2004