Today marks a historic date in Hip-hop as the legendary Tupac Shakur receives nomination for official induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with other musical archetypal figures, Bad Brains, Chaka Khan, Pearl Jam, and Janet Jackson.
The rapper's eligibility into the hall of fame had been granted thanks to his 1991 2Pacalypse Now,which celebrates its 25th anniversary since its initial release this coming November, making Tupac's legacy qualified to sit among the seats of music's greatest.
Although originally from Harlem, Tupac gained prominence for representing the West Coast rap scene. Throughout his career, fans and critics witnessed a wide scope of elements blended into his distinct brand of music, featuring genre-defying samples from Bruce Hornsby's “The Way It Is”, to Zapp Band's “Dancefloor”, and, of course, much more.
Over the years, Cleveland's Rock Hall has adopted a more diverse approach upon upholding its inductees. However, since its initial opening, only a handful of Hip-hop icons have been granted such notoriety. These artists include N.W.A., Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, as well as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Gene Simmons of the critically-acclaimed Rock n roll group, Kiss, echoed to the many negating the idea of inducting Hip-hop artists onto the list, “If you don't play guitar and you don't write your own songs, you don't belong there. I'll approve of rappers in the Rock Hall when Led Zeppelin gets into the 'Rap Hall of Fame'”.
N.W.A.'s very own Ice Cube had a thing to say regarding Simmons' initial statement, “N.W.A. Is probably more Rock n roll than a lot of the people that he thinks belong there over Hip-hop... We had the same spirit as punk rock, the same as the blues,” explained the iconic rapper to The New York Times, advocating the spirit of Rock flowing through many Hip-hop figures.
The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame's inductees of the year 2017, is scheduled for announcement this December.
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
