Noel Gallagher says Jay-Z is 'wrong' for Glastonbury

Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher has blasted the decision to have rapper Jay-Z headlining the 2008 Glastonbury Festival -- and insisted he's the reason tickets had not sold out this year.

He said it was "wrong" to have a hip-hop headliner and added that organizers had changed things too much.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it," Gallagher said of the festival, adding that, "if you start to break it then people aren't going to go. I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance.

"Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music and even when they throw the odd curve ball in on a Sunday night you go 'Kylie Minogue?'

"I don't know about it. But I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong."

Hattie Collins, editor of urban music magazine RWD, hit back back at Gallagher's comments, branding them "ill-informed rubbish" and said Jay-Z was a "great crowd puller".

She added: "Gone are the days when a guy would turn up with a microphone and grab himself while wandering around mumbling."

And Kanya King, who established the Mobo Awards, said Gallagher was wrong to criticize the festival's choice of headliner.

"Given that Glastonbury is trying to reach a younger audience and diversify then I think it's important that they embrace hip-hop," she said.

"It seems only fitting that you should have a global superstar act like Jay-Z on the show.

"Glastonbury doesn't have that many hip-hop acts on the main stage, so maybe music lovers will get to see him and their opinions will change."

Ms Collins said she believed the Oasis songwriter had "probably never seen Jay-Z live or heard any of his tunes".

"Hip-hop in a live setting can be fantastic and has just as much right to be there as any other run-of-the-mill indie band," she added.