Hip-Hop
history was made last night (Mar. 12), as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As
Hip-Hop pioneers, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were one of the first
Hip-Hop groups to incorporate deejaying and emceeing in a group. “We
are going in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to represent exactly who we are and
what we did,” Melle Mel told AllHipHop.com. “Nas saying that Hip-Hop
is dead is 100 percent right,” Mele Mel told AllHipHop.com. “If there’s
anyone who thinks that we aint worthy to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
well we should do something to prove them us, as well as Hip-Hop does belong in
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” The
group consisted of Grandmaster Flash, the DJ and Cowboy, Mele Mel (formerly known
as Melle Mel), Kidd Creole, Raheim, and Mr. Ness, the groups MC’s. The
groundbreaking group went on to create such hits as “The Message,” “Grandmaster
Flash on the Wheels of Steel,” and countless others. Rap
mogul and Def Jam Records president Jay-Z introduced the group during the introduction
ceremony. "Thirty
years later rappers have become rock stars, movie stars, leaders, educators, philanthropists,
even CEOs," Jay-Z said. "None of this would have been possible without
the work of these men." Formed
in the South Bronx, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five have come a long way
since their first single “Superrappin” hit the streets in 1979. The
annual event took place at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel and other inductees
included R.E.M., The Ronettes, Patti Smith, and Van Halen.