Noel raps Glastonbury

So Noel Gallagher doesn't think that there should be a place for rap or hip hop music at Glastonbury - I thought he was right when I first heard his comments. I though he was bang on the money right up until Jay-Z stormed the main stage at Glastonbury and embarrassed Gallagher senior's comments for what they were - disgenuous, jealous and completely wide of the mark as it transpires.

Before examining the rights and wrongs of having a rap artist at Glastonbury, it's worth looking at why Noel said what he did.

The main problem is that Oasis still see themselves as a big stadium band and the voice of the common man - a fanfare for the working class legions desperate to escape the monotony of the inner city council estate that apparently all of their fans live on. When Noel, or Liam to a lesser degree, speak on any subject, they do so with an air of total arrogance - they truly believe they are speaking on all of our behalves as they have their finger unswervingly on the pulse of the nation. For years they have been full of self bloated opinions on who is hot and who is not in the music world as if artists worldwide are hanging on their every word, desperate for the artistic approval and subsequent fulfilment that praise from the Gallaghers brings. So when Noel, potentially upset that he was not headlining Glastonbury with his 'greatest hits' album, decided to voice on opinion on the line up, the dye was cast, the votes were in and it was going to turn into an unmitigated disaster.

Except it didn't.

Whereas Oasis, even in their heyday, stood stock still on stage looking cool in their Stone Roses hand me downs and let their music alone entertain the crowd, artists such as Jay-Z realise that the key word in the phrase 'live performance' is performance. Like him or loath him, understand his music or not, he is a born entertainer. A lot of rap artists are. I remember seeing Snoop Dogg at Live 8 and he took the entire crowd on an a frantic and breathless musical journey - everyone jumping and swaying together, waving their arms in the air in unison, shouting out chorus after chorus and loving every minute of his energetic performance. As an indie boy myself I have to say that he pleasantly surprised me and easily held his own with some of my favourite bands who were playing that day.

Jay-Z's slot arrived and he took to the stage to the soundbite of Noel Gallagher informing the world there was no place for rap at Glastonbury. He then launched into an ironic cover of Wonderwall which quickly turned into a massive sing-a-long and firmly put Gallagher and his fellow detractors, myself included, in our place.

His crowning glory had to be when he shouted at the crowd 'They told me you weren't into hip-hop' only to hear 100,000 people cheer back that they clearly were. Game, set and match.

So Oasis didn't want Jay-Z there but he came, he saw and he conquered. Maybe next year Status Quo will object to the Arctic Monkeys playing the festival only to be proved very publicly that they are out of touch and totally incorrect!