Byron Bay Bluesfest director Peter Noble lobbed some criticism at triple j during an appearance at the recent Face The Music conference in Melbourne, saying he would like to see them broaden the scope of events they support.

Speaking to Rolling Stone‘s Mathew Coyte, Noble also addressed the recent wave of criticism aimed at the festival’s controversial booking of rapper Kendrick Lamar, whom many fans felt is not the right fit for the event.

“I was on a plane from London to Singapore,” Noble recounted, via The Music, “…they’ve got such great music on Singapore Airlines. I put on To Pimp A Butterfly and fell asleep. By the time I got to Singapore I must’ve heard it half a dozen times and fallen in love with it.”

“I thought it was a work of genius, the best thing I’ve heard in rap and hip-hop since Eminem came out, and yes I’m a blues promoter, but I just went, ‘I gotta have this act.’ I started talking to people, the guys at Live Nation, Michael, hyping them up and they went with it.”

“They said, ‘You must be crazy, you’ve done rap and hip hop at Bluesfest before, Jurassic 5 and The Roots, but never the best artist in rap right now, Kendrick.’ He’s just so far in front, what he’s doing is genius stuff… he’s redefined the genre.”

Noble previously defended booking Lamar in a post to the official Bluesfest Facebook page, suggesting fans unhappy about Lamar’s presence at the event should simply go and watch another act when the rapper takes the stage.

“If you don’t feel that you want to hear that, there’s five other stages going on at Bluesfest,” he said. “Don’t feel threatened because we’re going to put some rap on. Glastonbury’s done it. All sorts of festivals have.”

Love Eminem?

Get the latest Eminem news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more

When asked if Noble has an addiction to adding more and more acts to each Bluesfest lineup, Noble disagreed, saying organisers adhere to a strict budget but that he’s interested in booking an event with a broad appeal.

“You’ve got to spend X amount of money to get an event at a certain level where hopefully it means a lot to different types of people. There are a number of events in Australia that are just based on triple j programming because they know they’re going to get a presents,” he said.

Kendrick Lamar – Opening Night At Bluesfest 2016Peter Noble, our festival director shares why Kendrick Lamar is a must see at Bluesfest Byron Bay 2016 on opening night, Thursday 24 March.

Posted by Bluesfest Byron Bay on Wednesday, November 11, 2015

“They’re going to get all this free marketing on a station that’s #3 in some cities. You can’t buy that. But the event is only that and only appealing to one audience. Personally, I don’t wanna do it. triple j won’t present Bluesfest because we put older people on.”

“Even though Kendrick Lamar is presented by triple j, because Kendrick Lamar is playing Bluesfest with Brian Wilson and UB40, they won’t present us.” Noble then appealed to triple j to broaden the roster of events they present.

“I say this with respect to Richard Kingsmill and people like that, there’s a whole lot of events with triple j-friendly artists that you’re programming and playing, mixed with other artists, and it would be really nice if you could jump over their shadow and get behind them as well, rather than events that just do what you do.”

It’s not the first time triple j has been accused of harbouring a narrow scope when it comes to the types of music they support. Early last year, End of Fashion frontman Justin Burford blamed the station for the demise of his band.

“The station and Kingsmill himself have positioned themselves as taste makers. Thereby a very small group of people will preside over whether an Aussie act will have a chance or not,” the singer wrote.

Burford’s comments re-stoked a public debate that was sparked ahead of last year’s Hottest 100 countdown, after a Fairfax article investigated claims that bands were altering their sound to secure airplay on triple j.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine