Jay-Z at Glastonbury – Wait Till He Gets His Little Black Book Out

I’m confused. Am I the only person who thinks that Jay-Z headlining the Glastonbury Festival is a good idea? It has certainly felt that way following the intense media speculation that has surrounded the US rapper’s billing at the event, which, if you can fathom it, was confirmed all the way back in February.

When it was announced, the festival’s organiser Michael Eavis said that Jay-Z’s presence would help Glastonbury “break with tradition”. I subconsciously nodded with him as I read it. ‘Yes, I can see that happening,’ I thought to myself. Over the weeks that followed, however, it soon became clear that not many people endorsed his, or my now closet, opinion on the matter. Festivalgoers protested, ticket sales on previous years plummeted and, if your name was Noel Gallagher, you didn’t just assault Jay-Z, you declared that the idea of hip-hop at Glastonbury was just “wrong” full stop. “I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance,” Gallagher moaned to the BBC, before saying that throwing “the odd curve ball” like Kylie Minogue was all right actually. Ok, Noel.

Suffice to say, I don’t agree with Gallagher. Not only are his comments misinformed (the percentage of traditional and non-traditional hip-hop acts at past Glastonbury’s has actually been quite high), they got me thinking as to just why people are actually offended. After all, has no one spared a thought as to whom Jay-Z could bring with him to Glastonbury?

Wife aside (the rapper recently married long-term girlfriend Beyonce) Jay-Z’s got a black book of collaborators that should actually make his appearance at Glastonbury the most anticipated in years. First of all, there’s the modern day Glastonbury messiah himself, Chris Martin. Not only has the Coldplay frontman had experience of fronting a band on the festival’s Pyramid Stage, but he also worked with Jay-Z on the rapper’s 2006 album ‘Kingdom Come’. Yes, his appearance on ‘Beach Chair’ might have been rather minimal and, if I’m honest, not particularly great, but theirs is a friendship that goes deep. Martin and his wife, Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow, have been the first to defend the rapper’s booking, for example. When asked recently if Coldplay should be headlining instead of Jay-Z, Martin revoked any suggestion, saying “the best musician on the planet” was already at the top of the bill.

If further proof was needed about the possibility of Martin making an appearance at Worthy Farm then you should look no further than the fact that Coldplay have just suspiciously delayed the start of their US tour. Originally scheduled to begin on June 29th, ‘production problems’ have now pushed it back until mid-July.

Of course, if Jay-Z really wants to bring the guitar music that Noel Gallagher claims defines Glastonbury, then I’m sure he’ll put in a phone call to Linkin Park. In theory, with both acts due to play together in Milton Keynes the day after Jay-Z’s Glastonbury performance, this collaboration, originally united on the 2004 mash-up album ‘Collision Course’, really should happen.

But what if Jay-Z decides to stick to hip-hop? He has, after all, been quoted as saying that the traditional “barriers” created by music genres no longer apply to kids who listen to music in 2008. Well, if that’s the case, then the rapper’s set at Glastonbury could run into the Verve’s slot on Sunday. Kanye West, Mary J Blige, R Kelly, Rihanna, P Diddy…you name them, Jay-Z’s friends with all of them.

To me, all this doesn’t add up to the most controversial Glastonbury booking of all time, it adds up to potentially the most tantalising. And even if Jay-Z chooses to turn up with a DJ and a box of backing records, it will still be remembered as the year Glastonbury truly embodied its own philosophy: to stimulate culture in all its musical forms.