http://twitter.com/#!/Fulhamhamster/status/217014666776420352

Music lovers whose parents are too young to remember the British invasion of the 1960s are flooding Twitter with reactions to the American invasion of 2012.

BBC Radio 1’s Hackney Weekend closed last night after giving 100,000 festival-goers two days of free music, much of it American. Rapper Jay-Z, Saturday’s headline act, appeared alongside other Americans including Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, will.i.am and Jack White. (Sunday’s headliner Rihanna, though no stranger to American audiences, is from Barbados.)

Last summer the area of east London was marred by a series of riots; next month it will host the Olympics. Festival organizers hoped that Hackney Weekend might boost the area’s reputation and morale; attendees were just anxious to hear some American hip-hop.

https://twitter.com/OiG3ORGi3/status/216633079807221761

Times have changed in other ways. London was where the Dixie Chicks declared during a 2003 concert they were ashamed to be from President George W. Bush’s home state of Texas. Jay-Z’s set saw the lowering of a huge American flag behind the stage to close out a sing-along performance of “New York State of Mind.”

I thought this Hackney concert was part of the London 2012 build up? So whose idea was finishing with New York & a giant American flag?

— Annbag (@Anniegeddon) June 23, 2012

https://twitter.com/JoshBovill/status/216875726115319810

A global Google debate tomorrow promises a more philosophical look at hip-hop and its influence.

Jay-Z at Hackney Weekend: but does hip-hop degrade or enhance? http://t.co/VPHyED8O #music

— Guardian music (@guardianmusic) June 25, 2012

But in the afterglow of Hackney Weekend, most are focused less on the politics and more on the music.

Hackney, UK. Jay-Z live in the rain, the US flag as the background, @kanyewest on the stage. Best rapper alive can still put on a show.

— orlanka (@orlanka) June 23, 2012

Read more: http://twitchy.com/2012/06/25/jay-z-leads-american-invasion-of-bbcs-hackney-weekend/