Ya Heard: Jay-Z takes hip hop to rock 'n' roll

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

The Jigga man expanded his legend in the UK last weekend. Jay became the first hip-hop artist to headline the traditionally rock-fueled Glastonbury Music Festival when he performed in front of 100,000-plus fans. However, when Jay's role as headliner was originally announced, not everyone was enthusiastic.

Noel Gallagher of rock band Oasis scoffed, "If it ain't broke don't fix it," he said, "I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance. Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar mu-sic. I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. It's wrong."

Jay-Z's response? He kicked off his set with a guitar strapped across his shoulders. As if the site of Jay-Z with a guitar wasn't enteraining enough, Jay began to sing Oasis' hit song "Wonderwall." The crowd, which seemed appreciative of his wit, sang along before he kicked off his own string of hits with rock-influenced "99 Problems."

When asked about his historic performance, Jay told MTV "That's my sense of hu-mor. I have a sense of humor like a Brit, so I thought people would appreciate that. Noel Gallagher was one of the biggest detractors, so I figured that was a cool way to start the show… . It didn't make me angry because I don't know him. What people say about you is none of your business."

A number of rock bands paid tribute to Jay including Beth Ditto, who told the crowd, "I'm so jealous of you, camping to see Jay-Z. Seriously, I'm so [explicit] jeal-ous."

Another great moment for hip-hop!

SCRATCH LEAVES EPMD

DJ Scratch of the legendary EPMD announced he is no longer part of the group. Scratch told allhiphop.com, "I had been finding out through my peoples that Eric [Sermon] and Parrish [Smith] have been doing shows and recording an album without me. Then I'm getting e-mails from fans telling me that Eric said on stage I'm not there because 'I'm missing flights.' And I'm like 'C'mon E that's not cool.' I've never missed a flight in my whole career.

"Eric doesn't want to split the money three ways," Scratch continued. "And that's fine, but be a man about it. We're supposed to be a crew. Don't lie and make me seem incompetent and disrespectful to the fans."

Eric and Parrish release a new album this year, but without Scratch I don't feel it should be promoted as a true EPMD album.

"If the album came out and I'm not on there, the obvious question will be 'Where's Scratch?' " he stated. "I think the reason they've not said anything is they know the fans wouldn't be [interested] with them like that without me. It's like Run DMC without Jam Master Jay; we're a three-member group. Eric has the money issue, but I don't think he realizes he'd make more money together than apart… . This is only permanent if they want it to be that way. I make more money on my own than with EPMD. I came back with them for hip-hop and the fans, money isn't an issue for me."

No word on when the Eric and Parrish album releases.

RUSSELL DEFENDS HIMSELF AND FAMILY

Much has been made of the child custody agreement between Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee. Many questioned the security Kimora demanded for the times their daughters are in Rus-sell's care. And some have noticed the $40,000-per-month child support required of Rus-sell.

In defense of Russell, his family and even Kimora, the hip-hop mogul released a statement to quiet the chitter chattering.

"The fact is, we've had a pretty good partnership at sharing the girls in the past," Simmons says. "There have been a few bumps in the road, and those bumps have led us to negotiate a minimum amount of time I'm guaranteed to see my kids. The deal is as follows: I have the girls one full week out of every eight, half of the summer, half of all holidays, a full week at Christmas and half of spring break.

"Like all good partnerships, contracts are meant to protect the partners but are usually not the only way that partners work together," The Def Jam Records founder stated. "If I show up in L.A., where she now lives, unannounced, I can call up Kimora and she will most likely send them right over. The same goes when she comes to New York.

"I've seen a lot of people reading into the supervised visits stipulation," Sim-mons continued. "Kimora travels with a security guard and nanny. In the past, she's gotten really nervous that I never travel with security, so if it makes her more comfortable to have her security and a nanny with us when I'm with my kids, that's OK with me."

So there you have it, straight from the source.

CALLING LOCAL TALENT

Calling all local hip-hop, R&B, and poetry acts! On July 26, Cork'ed Wine & Cigars presents "The Smoken Word: A Showcase of Everything Local, Relevant and Ear-worthy in Hip Hop and R&B." Cork'ed is looking for acts. Yours truly is hosting the event.

Cork'ed Wine & Cigars is at 17934 Main St. in Dumfries. Aspiring artists can contact me or Karen at 703-221-2440 or info4corked@comcast.net. This is not a paying gig, but an opportunity to reach new fans.

HIP-HOP TRIVIA

During the late '90s, Nas, Foxy Brown, Nature and AZ formed a group known as The Firm. What Queensbridge native was supposed to be a part of the group before the record label de-cided to replace him with Nature?

Be the third person to send me an e-mail with the correct answer and receive two free AMC movie tickets courtesy of the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger … until next week, peace!

Dennis Winn can be reached at 703-200-4928 or YaHeard40@gmail.com.