Vibes

Archives | RSS

Monday, April 6, 2009

Opinion / News Does rap belong in the Rock Hall?

Posted By on Mon, Apr 6, 2009 at 2:31 PM

An interesting debate is swirling around the online world this week... Do rap and hip hop artists belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? For that matter, where does pop fall into this?

Over the weekend, Run DMC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some people are not happy, and others don't understand why.

Some say that Run DMC weren't playing instruments — they may have used rock beats, but they were samples. Would you consider Madonna, a pop icon, as worthy of being in the Rock Hall? What about the already inducted Furious Five? Miles Davis has been inducted, too — is he rock 'n' roll?

Here are my thoughts — I'll start with Madonna. She's a pioneer in performing and stirred up controversy, but when you look at who she is keeping company with in the Rock Hall — The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones — would you put her in the same category? I wouldn't.

I also wouldn't include rap and hip-hop acts. Why? It's not a "Music" Hall of Fame — maybe they'll make a Hip-Hop Hall of Fame or Top 40 Hall of Fame, etc. Maybe they need more qualifiers — bands that play instruments live. Madonna is a single artist that is a singer fronting a rotating group of nameless musicians.

Now, Lil Wayne is releasing a rock album in front of live musicians, so should he be inducted into the Rock Hall? Um, no. He's a hip-hop artist who happens to put out one lame rock album... that doesn't qualify him. I wouldn't expect Korn or 311 to go into a Hip-Hop Hall of Fame, either.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's integrity should be held up to a standard that ensures the legacy and quality of acts being inducted. Or maybe the problem is that it's the "Rock and Roll" instead of the "Rock 'n' Roll" Hall of Fame in the first place...?

Tags: , , , ,

Pin It
Submit to Reddit
Favorite

More Vibes »

Speaking of...

  |  

Comments

Subscribe to this thread:
By Email
With RSS

Add a comment

Creative Loafing encourages a healthy discussion on its website from all sides of the conversation, but we reserve the right to delete any comments that detract from that. Violence, racism and personal attacks that go beyond the pale will not be tolerated.

Latest in Vibes

Search Events

all events
concerts
restaurants
movie times

www.flickr.com
items in Creative Loafing Charlotte More in Creative Loafing Charlotte pool
Most Popular
Most Shared
Most Commented

© 2019 Womack Digital, LLC
Powered by Foundation