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MUSIC: Jay-Z, MEN Arena, Sat 19 Jul
David Sue16/ 7/2008
YOU can only hope Jay-Z doesn’t bear any grudges against the city of Manchester. After all, the hip-hop giant has been involved in 2008’s biggest musical war of words – with Burnage boy Noel Gallagher.
Ever since Jay-Z was announced as the headline act of this year’s Glastonbury festival, it seemed the entire world had an opinion on whether hip-hop was ‘appropriate’ for the mainly rock-oriented summer festival.
Yet Noel Gallagher’s view was surely the most damning, the Oasis star opining: "I’m not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong."
But as we now know, it was Jay-Z who had the final word, silencing the doubters with an incendiary performance at Glastonbury and typically challenging misconceptions about the hip-hop genre. Indeed Gallagher has since said that he likes Jay-Z and rumours of a possible future collaboration are flying around the internet.
Of course, from day one, Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – has always relished an underdog challenge.
Whether it was the challenge of his tough upbringing on the streets of Brooklyn, or the challenge of hip-hop competition (against rap rivals like Nas and DMX), Jay-Z has thrived on resistance, and shaped it into his brilliant brand of brutal hip-hop beats.
Fair enough, he may not be an underdog any more – being a wealthy millionaire AND being married to Beyoncé Knowles – but, as his recent Glastonbury performance proved, Jay-Z still continues to embrace challenges and confront opposition towards his chosen genre.
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