Jay-Z believes his headline performance at Glastonbury 2008 helped break down barriers.

The hip-hop megastar was of course the centre of a maelstrom after Noel Gallagher criticised the festival's choice of headline act.

Along with bad weather the previous year, Jay-Z was also cited as one of the reasons for slow ticket sales in the run-up to the festival.

Speaking to Zane Lowe on Radio 1, the jigga man insists he was proud to perform at Glastonbury and mock Noel Gallagher by appearing onstage with a guitar and to the sounds of Wonderwall.

He said: "I felt like breaking down the barriers. There's a few people that wanted to see the concert and everything in its traditional form but that's not the way of the world.

"It felt like once I got to the people, they were excited. I had to be good. I was so focused on that. Just to really perform and put it out there."

His only regret is that he didn't practise the guitar beforehand, "I was actually backstage trying to get that little piece together 10 minutes before the show. I should've practised. I wanted to at least act like the chords were right."

“I started well but the excitement of the moment took over”

Jay-Z is on UK shores to promote his upcoming album 'Blueprint 3', released on September 14.

(by Scott Colothan)