This next years Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have been announced. Honestly, it’s a pretty solid group of musicians including Pearl Jam, Yes and Journey. Those are certainly three bands that deserve to be in an institution entitled ‘The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’. However, there’s also a trend that’s happened in the institutions 21 year history. Inducting hip hop and rap artists. Now, before I go any further with this little segment, I want to be very clear. This has nothing to do with legitimacy or validity of hip hop versus rock and metal. Hip hop is a very valid art form that has proven that it has and will continue to resonate with generations to come. Message to Gene Simmons: I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for ‘the death of hip hop’. It’s not going anywhere. Which is a good thing. But that doesn’t mean that hip hop/rap acts should be inducted into the RRHOF. Simply because it’s not rock music. Why are Tupac and N.W.A. in the RRHOF and Black Sabbath isn’t? That doesn’t make any sense. Don’t get me wrong; Tupac and N.W.A are very important artists who have put a major major stamp on pop culture and the music industry. I even studied Tupac in a modern prophets class in college. If a genre of music is so successful that it’s artists are being studied in college I think that it should qualify for having it’s own hall of fame. It’s clearly significant. But it’s still not Rock music. Now, I know there are a lot of people who think that’s a pretty single minded point of view. That Rock and Roll is a spirit and all that. Well, maybe in it’s original phases yes. But Rock has evolved into it’s own specific genre. There isn’t a specific ideal with it anymore. There are liberal rock bands and conservative ones. And yes, there have been plenty of bands to cross genres and experiment (Faith No More). But that still doesn’t mean that hip hop is rock music. It isn’t, it’s hip hop. It even has it’s own name!! It’s a different style of music than Rock. It’s roots are in different styles of music. Which goes back to the question: Why isn’t there a hip hop hall of fame? Hasn’t the hip hop community proved their worth enough to deserve it? And for those of you who really think all these groups and artists are in some way ‘rock’ think about this: How would you feel if there was a hip hop hall of fame and Pantera was inducted? Is that a group that belongs in the hip hop hall of fame? I doubt it.
Why Isn’t there a Hip-Hop hall of fame?
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