Jay-Z Blasts 'Ridiculous' Glastonbury Row

Jay-Z has called the controversy surrounding his headline slot at Glastonbury 'ridiculous' and says it's the result of outdated thinking.

The '99 Problems' hitmaker will be the first ever rapper to top the bill at the summer festival when he takes to the stage on Saturday June 28. But the announcement has been met with fierce criticism, with many claiming he was "wrong" for the event.

"I've never actually experienced anything like that before," said Jay-Z. "It's 2008, what is that about?

"That's such old school thinking, that's not even how the world thinks anymore. So I was really taken aback (by the criticism)."

Jay-Z has also been blamed for poor ticket sales after the three-day event failed to sell out, although organizers said bad weather in previous years has had an effect.

It was claimed that by booking a rapper to headline, Glastonbury was betraying its roots as a rock music festival.

But speaking to Britain's Radio 1, the hip hop hero, real name Shawn Corey Carter, said people now listen to music in different ways.

He explains, "These barriers that they have are only put up there to separate us.

"They are there so people have a way of filing the music but that's not the way kids today listen to music.

"I listen to all types of music and that's what should happen, that's what the world should be about, mixing culture.

"There's only good music and bad music.

"I think that hip hop is music and an art form, it's poetry and it should be accepted and respected like any other art form.

"It's just coming from a different perspective."