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Jay-Z Praises "The Grizzly Bear" in Village Voice Interview

10:34 a.m. · January 21, 2010 · by Nick Neyland

We know by now that Jay-Z has a fondness for indie rock, but he’s elaborated on his passion again in a new interview with the Village Voice. The hip-hop star scored big with “Empire State of Mind” in the annual Pazz & Jop poll in the paper, and an interview with Sean Fennessey was arrange to coincide.

“When I got the call from the Village Voice I was like, ‘Are you sure? I thought they don't like me over there. They only like guys you never heard of. I thought that was their type of action,’” he laughs, before talking about performing at the World Series and leaving Def Jam.

Jay-Z also talked about his love of guitar-based practitioners, including a fondness for—irk!—hairy rockers Kings of Leon: “I think my number one favorite [of 2009] is the Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody." It's a tie between the two singles they had this year, the other one I can't think of right now, I'm playing myself.”

Turns out he was talking about “Sex on Fire,” which shows there’s no accounting for taste. Jay also didn’t miss a chance to praise Ed Droste and his group, albeit getting their name slightly wrong. “I just love the Grizzly Bear,” he said. “That project was great. It sounds like these church cathedral chords—it’s just sick what they're doing.”

[via The Village Voice]