I think this is more an indictment of LIVE rap music.

... than the obvious.

2 hours, 26 minutes ago

Organizers of one of Britain's best-known music festivals on Tuesday defended their decision to book Jay-Z as their headline act after Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher blamed the U.S. rapper for disappointing ticket sales.

The outdoor Glastonbury festival is a cornerstone of Britain's music calendar. But this year's festival has yet to sell out, in contrast to past years when tickets were snapped up within hours.

Gallagher, whose band headlined the festival in 1995 and 2004, said rap was to blame.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Gallagher said in an interview, an audio of which was posted to the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Web site Monday. "If you break it, people ain't gonna go. I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? ... No chance." He explained that the inclusion of a hip-hop act went against the festival's tradition of guitar music, adding: "I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. No way. No. It's wrong."

Glastonbury Festival co-organizer Emily Eavis said the 38-year-old festival had a long history of attracting rap acts, including Cypress Hill and The Roots. She said the media stir over Gallagher's comments revealed an "innate conservatism" in some sectors of British society.

"There is also an interesting undercurrent in the suggestion that a black, U.S. hip-hop artist shouldn't be playing in front of what many perceive to be a white, middle-class audience. I'm not sure what to call it, at least not in public, but this is something that causes me some disquiet," she said in an article published Tuesday in The Independent newspaper.

Eavis said she thought Jay-Z was "absolutely the right act" for the festival.

On the Net:

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/

...

Three things here...

1) We all know it. Some of us are afraid to say it. Live rap can be one of the worst forms of live entertainment ever. Live rap is like Burlesque strippers... a lot of movement, noise, and gyrations, but not that much is actually happening. Maybe Jay-Z is different. I've seen footage, but...

2) "Disquiet" is the new racism.

3) Noel Gallagher has always been, very publicly and proudly, a complete jerk. For those of you unfamiliar, his band,Oasis was initially compared to the Beatles but ended up with a career much closer to Badfinger.