On Friday night, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame hosted its 2023 induction ceremony at Brooklyn, NY’s Barclays Center. The star-studded affair, which fans at home were able to stream live for the first time ever, honored 2023 performer inductees Willie Nelson, Kate Bush, Missy Elliott, Rage Against The Machine, Sheryl Crow, George Michael, and The Spinners with more than four hours worth of speeches and special performances.
While hip-hop acts have been gradually inducted into the Hall since Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5 were enshrined in 2007, the 2023 ceremony—which coincided with this year’s 50th anniversary of the genre—featured numerous honorees from the world of hip-hop and Black music as a whole. Missy Elliott became the first-ever female rapper inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while DJ Kool Herc, the Bronx, NY DJ largely credited as the “father of hip-hop,” was honored with a Musical Influence Award induction. Inductees like Chaka Khan and The Spinners have both been sampled extensively throughout hip-hop’s half-century of evolution, while Rage Against The Machine, inducted by rapper/actor Ice-T, is widely known for bridging the gap between hip-hop and alt-rock during its late-’90s heyday.
Related: Dave Matthews Inducts Willie Nelson Into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame [Watch]
Ahmet Ertgun Award recipient Don Cornelius was honored for creating pioneering TV show Soul Train, which launched the careers of countless soul, R&B, funk, and hip-hop artists and served as a beacon of Black culture over the course of its 36-year TV run.
Even in places many viewers may not have expected, hip-hop’s spread into the realm of popular music was apparent at the Rock Hall inductions. While reclusive English singer Kate Bush was unsurprisingly not in attendance at the event, her induction was presented by OutKast rapper Big Boi, a longtime, outspoken Kate Bush fan. He even said he has written various versions of a Kate Bush collab song, and closed his speech by asking the absent Bush to approve one of the three mixes of a supposed collaborative song they recorded so they can release it.
“Check it out,” Big Boi said in his speech. “I fell in love with Kate Bush in middle school. My uncle Russell, my favorite uncle, turned me onto her and I listened to ‘Running Up That Hill’ on my bike. I was that kid from Stranger Things. Like I’m talking about I really think they took my interview and put it in Stranger Things. So since then, I’ve been obsessed with her music and remained her biggest fan. I know what some of you are thinking: What does Kate Bush have to do with hip-hop? She is such a unique artist, you might as well also ask: What does Kate Bush have to do with rock n’ roll?”
“Obviously our music is very different,” he continued. “But in important ways, we’re exactly the same. What I love about Kate’s music is that I never know what sound I’m gonna hear next. She ignores anything that seems like a formula and instead just does whatever she wants to do, like me. She challenges me as a listener and expands my ears and my mind. No matter how many times I look to albums like The Dreaming or 50 Words for Snow, they sound fresh and surprise me every time. They fill with my head with ideas and expand my ambitions for what music can achieve. As a singer, Kate’s voice is incredibly, incredibly inventive. Who sounds like Kate Bush? [sings] Nobody! … Like Keith Sweat say, haha. On stage, she’s a miracle. Her songs sound the actual way we just hear them on their own, and in their performance, they actually become theater. Kate is a songwriter, producer, and performer without equal. If that’s not hip-hop, I don’t know what is.”
Check out a selection of speeches and performances by and about hip-hop artists and pioneers from the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony below.
Queen Latifah Inducts Missy Elliott Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – 11/3/23
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Missy Elliott Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Speech – 11/3/23
[Video: MarchofTheRashbaum]
Missy Elliott – Medley – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction – 11/3/23
[Video: Bill Adams]
Chaka Khan w/ H.E.R. – “Ain’t Nobody” – Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction – 11/3/23
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Big Boi (OutKas) Inducts Kate Bush Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
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Ice-T Inducts Rage Against The Machine Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – 11/3/23
[Video: MarchofTheRashbaum]
Tom Morello – Rage Against The Machine Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Speech – 11/3/23
[Video: MarchofTheRashbaum]
LL Cool J Inducts DJ Kool Herc Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Speech – 11/3/23
[Video: MarchofTheRashbaum]
In addition to performer inductees Willie Nelson, Missy Elliott, Rage Against The Machine, Sheryl Crow, George Michael, and The Spinners, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony recognized Soul Train creator Don Cornelius, who received the Ahmet Ertegun Award; a pair of Musical Influence Award recipients, DJ Kool Herc, the New York DJ widely credited as the “father of hip-hop,” and Link Wray, the guitarist best known as the originator of the power chord; and Musical Excellence Award honorees Chaka Khan, Al Kooper, and Bernie Taupin. Live performers and presenters at the ceremony included Carrie Underwood, Elton John, Jimmy Page, Stevie Nicks, Peter Frampton, Adam Levine, H.E.R., New Edition, St. Vincent, and more.
You can watch the entire 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony livestream on demand today via Hulu or Disney+.
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