One name has dominated the debate around this year’s festival more than any other, just as he has dominated music debate for the last 10 years. Arguably the most famous (and infamous) man in music right now, Kanye is not the first rapper to headline Glastonbury - but he’s got just as much to prove. And as Jay, Beyonce and Metallica have all realised in previous years, as far as Glastonbury is concerned you’ve got to go big or go home.
Thankfully, we’ve got the right man for the job. A true triple threat of raw nerve, forthright opinion - as aired eloquently in Radio 1’s two long-form interviews with Zane Lowe - and a tireless need to keep thwacking away at the outer parameters of what hip hop means and what it can be. And the ace in his pack is that he’s had more hits than a boxer’s face - Jesus Walks, Stronger, Gold Digger, Black Skinhead - and is blessed with the kind of mercurial stage presence it’s impossible to tear yourself away from.
He won’t stop until we’re all as convinced of his genius as he is. And he may well succeed.
One name has dominated the debate around this year’s festival more than any other, just as he has dominated music debate for the last 10 years. Arguably the most famous (and infamous) man in music right now, Kanye is not the first rapper to headline Glastonbury - but he’s got just as much to prove. And as Jay, Beyonce and Metallica have all realised in previous years, as far as Glastonbury is concerned you’ve got to go big or go home.
Thankfully, we’ve got the right man for the job. A true triple threat of raw nerve, forthright opinion - as aired eloquently in Radio 1’s two long-form interviews with Zane Lowe - and a tireless need to keep thwacking away at the outer parameters of what hip hop means and what it can be. And the ace in his pack is that he’s had more hits than a boxer’s face - Jesus Walks, Stronger, Gold Digger, Black Skinhead - and is blessed with the kind of mercurial stage presence it’s impossible to tear yourself away from.
He won’t stop until we’re all as convinced of his genius as he is. And he may well succeed.
