Beyonce Knowles controls Jay-Z’s art tastes

Jay-Z's wife Beyonce Knowles controls his art tastes.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the hip-hop superstar reveals he wanted to purchase a black and white photo taken by renowned American artist-and-photographer Laurie Simmons of a "a noirishly lit pistol with a pair of women's legs emerging from the handle".

However, Beyonce was less than impressed with her husband's choice and told him she didn't want it in their Tribeca penthouse in New York.

Instead, the 'Halo' singer had it replaced with another Simmons piece which depicted a perfume bottle instead of a gun.

Jay-Z – who is usually tight-lipped about his marriage to Beyonce - said: "It was more of a masculine style, I guess."

In the interview, the 40-year-old music star also reveals his love of indie music and believes hip-hop could learn a lot from the "energy" of bands like Grizzly Bear.

He said: "I love the energy coming out of indie rock right now. It has this rebellion thing that hip-hop is missing now, the thing that made hip-hop hip-hop."