NWA Enters Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

09 Apr, 2016

N.W.A. entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Friday, with the groundbreaking quintet that reflected the rough streets of Los Angeles in a style known as gangster rap defiantly refuting those who suggested rappers didn’t belong in the institution.

They joined the rock hall in a ceremony at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center with 1970s-era rock acts Cheap Trick, Chicago, Deep Purple and Steve Miller.

N.W.A.’s rough-hewn tales tilted the balance toward West Coast rap in the late 1980s on songs like “F— the Police,” ”Boyz-N-The Hood” and “Straight Outta Compton.” Following the act’s breakup, Dr. Dre became one of music’s most in-demand producers and a billionaire with a high-tech headphone company. Ice Cube moves between music and a successful acting career.

For all the success, some traditional rockers have resisted the inclusion of rap acts into the hall, most prominent Kiss’ Gene Simmons, whose band was inducted in 2014.

“I want to say to Gene Simmons, hip-hop is here forever,” said MC Ren. “Get used to it.”

Rock ‘n’ roll is not just a musical style but a spirit that connects people, be they bluesmen or punk rockers, Ice Cube said. “Rock ‘n’ roll is not conforming to the people who came before you but creating your own path in music and in life,” he said. “That is rock ‘n’ roll and that is us.”

Named for one of N.W.A.’s best-known songs, the movie “Straight Outta Compton” told the band’s story and was one of the biggest box office winners of 2015. They were inducted by Kendrick Lamar, who said N.W.A. members “proved to every kid in the ghetto that you could be successful and still have your voice while doing it.”

Chicago was known for a brassy, jazz-rock fusion in its early days and settled into a comfortable career penning pop hits. Among their favorites were “Saturday in the Park,” ”25 or 6 to 4″ and “If You Leave Me Now.”

Singer Rob Thomas, while inducting Chicago, indicated that Chicago was tougher and more innovative than people had given them credit for. He joined the band for a verse of “Does Anyone Really Know What Time it Is?”

“If you think Chicago was your mom’s band, man I want to party with your mom,” Thomas said.

The pride of Rockford, Illinois, Cheap Trick’s career soared in the late 1970s when a live album recorded before a gleeful Japanese audience added excitement to tracks like “Surrender” and “I Want You to Want Me.” Turning up the volume for the night, they performed both songs.

They were inducted by a fellow Midwesterner, Detroit’s Kid Rock, who noted that most bands in attendance that night consider themselves great live acts.

“Then you go and see Cheap Trick,” he said. “That’s when you think, we kind of suck. I better step up my game.”

The rock hall also paid tribute Friday to two recently deceased rockers, with David Byrne and the Roots collaborating on David Bowie’s “Fame” and Sheryl Crow singing the Eagles’ “New Kid in Town” to honor the late Glenn Frey.

AP

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