Jay-Z School professor Rawi Abdelal called this a "turning point in American pop culture's response to globalization." The album has sold 1 million copies in the US. On January 1, 2008, Jay-Z resigned as president of Def Jam. In the winter of 2008 it was announced that Jay-Z become the first major hip hop artist to headline Britain's 2008 Glastonbury Festival. Tickets sold out quickly. Former headliner Noel Gallagher of Oasis condemned the festival organizers for choosing Jay-Z to headline a traditionally guitar-driven festival. "I'm sorry, but Jay-Z?" Gallagher asked, swearing. "No chance. Glastonbury has a tradition of, kind of, guitar
Uzi (hip hop artist) Uzi (hip hop artist) Uzi (pronounced as "Uji") is a popular Japanese hip-hop artist. He has released four major albums, most recently his “Natural 9” album released in March 2008. Uzi is one of the rappers to incorporate more overt elements of Japanese culture into his music and videos, specifically aspects referring to the samurai (to which he claims direct ancestry). He is a great example of an artist who maintains the localization of hip-hop music through his dependence on the incorporation of Japanese themes into his work. Such non-Americanization of his hip-hop music has been met with varying opinions;