Rush finally in the R&R HoF

[MiracleandWonder]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

That's a very fair point! I'm guessing that the reason that most see no problem with inducting the likes of Etta James, Ray Charles, James Brown, etc is because that early Motown sound had such a HUGE impact on the evolution of rock and roll. The same reason why Robert Johnson and BB King are in the hall. The blues had just as profound of an impact. The country artists that are there such as Johnny Cash are in because they transcended genres. Plus, lets not kid ourselves here. Those artists are bonafide legends and are going to be more widely accepted over someone like Public Enemy.

You do have a good point. But it is funny to see jazz artists like Dinah Washington and Etta James in the Hall. If they influenced generations to come, it was definitely more artists like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey compared to rock bands (like how The Stones and Clapton owe a lot to Muddy Waters) so their influence isn't really any different than Public Enemy's influence on today's rappers.

I honestly never got what was rock and what wasn't. Why is Etta James a "rock influence" but Sinatra wasn't for example? People from Elvis to Bowie to McCartney have cited Frank in the past yet he never got in the HOF despite reaching a level of success that only Elvis, Beatles and Michael Jackson can claim. Etta and Aretha influencing Whitney, Mariah and Christina Aguilera makes her "a rock influence" despite none of those artists being remotely rock, but Sinatra's admirers are true rock icons and he's not seen as a founding father/influence?

I don't like Public Enemy, I always hated their whole "white man is evil" image (Chuck D even admitted he didn't think John Wayne was racist but used him in Fight the Power because he wanted to namedrop "white icons" to teardown), but I do think if there's a short list of rap artists who are going to be in the RNRHOF, they'd belong on there along with Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, NWA (which gave us Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E....) and maybe 2Pac. Those artists are important whether we like them are not for what they've done to the music landscape.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by MiracleandWonder

, but I do think if there's a short list of rap artists who are going to be in the RNRHOF, they'd belong on there along with Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, NWA (which gave us Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E....) and maybe 2Pac. Those artists are important whether we like them are not for what they've done to the music landscape.

Oh I agree completely. They'll be there and one other you forgot to mention is Eminem.

Things that I personally wish the hall would lend more weight to when considering nominees are longevity and an artist or band's overall composition of work over a period of time. Again, using the sports analogy. A baseball player could have one phenomenal season, putting up record numbers. But what if that player, after that one amazing season, faded into obscurity? He certainly wouldn't deserve to be in the hall would he? To me it should be the same in music. For example, Guns N Roses was nominated into the hall based on 1-1/2 albums worth of work. Sorry but that's the truth! Do I like Guns N Roses? Hell yes! Do they deserve to be in the hall? I don't think so.