Chuck D has shortlisted some of the acts he would be honored to induct into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — and at least a few fellow rap legends are included.
On Wednesday (May 8), Cypress Hill’s B-Real took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the following prompt: “Which 10 artists or group would you without hesitation induct into the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame?”
Chuck, whose group Public Enemy were among the earliest Hip Hop inductees in the Rock Hall, responded soon after with his top picks.
He named a number of Hip Hop pioneers including Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Ice-T, KRS-One, Eric B. & Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah and DJ Hollywood.
Displaying his diverse musical tastes, the Long Island native also listed rock band Deep Purple (who were actually inducted in 2016) and heavy metal icons Iron Maiden.
See his post below.
Cypress Hill
De La Soul
Ice T
KrsOne
Eric B and Rakim
Salt And Pepa
Queen Latifah
Deep Purple
Iron Maiden
D J Hollywood— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) May 8, 2024
Eric B. & Rakim were nominated for the 2024 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but missed out on being inducted.
Instead, A Tribe Called Quest and Mary J. Blige were among those who got the nod, along with Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang and Ozzy Osbourne.
The legendary duo don’t hold any grudges towards the institution, though, telling TMZ following their snub: “Congratulations to the diverse group of artists inducted into the Rock Hall this year. Seeing Tribe and Mary on the list besides Cher, Ozzy, Kool and the Gang and all of the other icons shows how inclusive the institution has become. Keep voting … we’ll join you soon!”
Tribe had previously been nominated twice for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — in 2022 and 2023 — and finally made it in on their third attempt.
After the group missed out last year, longtime Tribe affiliate Consequence slammed Rock Hall organizers on social media by saying: “What we not gon’ do is keep subjugating that name, A Tribe Called Quest, to a white popularity contest, and having them in there as the token n-ggas pick. We gon’ stop that.”
He added: “On a political side, what I ain’t really feeling is that now, we gotta explain 0 for 2. The merit of the music, you can’t put a record on that. You can’t put an 0 for 2 on A Tribe Called Quest and what they did for Black music. You can’t do that. I can’t allow you to do that.”
Mary J. Blige was also nominated in 2021, but failed to get in on her first try.
Eminem, N.W.A, 2Pac and the Beastie Boys are among the other Hip Hop acts to have made it into the Rock Hall.
