Hov speaks with Steve Stoute about why he faced criticism for being a Hip Hop artist headlining the rock festival.

Jay-Z recently sat down with Steve Stoute for an interview as part of The Tanning Effect, reflecting on his headlining slot at the Glastonbury festival in 2008 and the controversy it drew from critics. During the interview, he said that it was

“It was just another one of those checkpoints. It felt like the DMX ‘Hard Knock Life’ conversation all over again, to have that conversation of, ‘No, rappers, we can tour together. We don’t have to have an outside R&B act or anything like that.’ Done,” he said. “People listen to music differently now. That was the old guard holding onto something they thought was dear. ‘We can’t let any other type of music infiltrate this rock festival.’ But people don’t listen to music like that no more. Globally, anywhere. Everyone’s iPod is a list of all eclectic things. You have some rock, some blues, some jazz – all types of things, whatever you like. They try to keep this thing segmented.”

He continued by emphasizing the importance of words and how a slight oversight or misunderstanding can completely misconstrue what he’s actually saying.

“It’s like a misconception of anything. I can have a misconception of anything I hear one or two words from. If you hear buzz words coming from Hip Hop or anything like that, you say that’s what it’s all about. It’s very difficult to fairly analyze something in a 30-second blip. If I analyze even a Maya Angelou in a 30-second blip, I can misjudge who she is as a person and she happens to be the most incredible poet of our time.”

Watch the full interview below, where he also touches on his single “Change Clothes” featuring Pharrell Williams (via HHNM).