Punk rocker John Lydon has launched a scathing attack on Jay-Z, dismissing the rap superstar's work as a "parody".

The former Sex Pistols frontman insists he is no fan of the hip-hop mogul and has no interest in reading Jay-Z's book Decoded, which will compete against the singer's own tome Mr. Rotten's Scrapbook for Best Book at the U.K.'s upcoming NME Awards.

He tells NME.com, "I'm afraid what he does is parody to me. Jay-Z's just nonsense."

However, Lydon concedes he's passing judgement blindly because he's yet to come face-to-face with the Empire State of Mind hitmaker. He adds: "I've never met him."В