WCBSTV.com is reporting that Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with rockers such as R.E.M. and Van Halen. This is incredible news for rap and hip hop. One of music’s most respected organizations is paying homage to the humble beginnings of hip hop. I know many people wonder why it took so long for a rap artist to be included, well it’s because an artist can’t be admitted until 25 years after his or her first release (…hip hop started in ’78 or ’79… some people still dispute exactly when it began).

There has been roughly 30 years of progress in rap and hip hop and the art form has had an incredible yet interesting journey of evolution. When I think of other artists that will be possibly inducted into the Hall of Fame, many artists come to mind – Rakim, Tribe Called Quest, Sugar Hill Gang, Kool Moe Dee, The Roots, maybe even Will Smith (he did change the game as “The Fresh Prince” and he is the only rapper I know that can have an album out that has sold over 6 million copies and none of the hip hop enthusiasts around me have the cd…. (read that last line as “this shows his pop appeal”) or at worst have even heard it), but I have to say that I’m not sure that I feel that many of today’s artists will have earned their way into the musical community’s homage to creative greatness.

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