The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees have been announced. Among the long list of nominees is the iconic hip-hop artist Missy Elliott. The legendary female rapper is a first-time nominee and has been nominated alongside musical name brands, including Sheryl Crow, Joy Division/New Order, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael, Willie Nelson, the White Stripes and Warren Zevon.
Concerning hip-hop, A Tribe Called Quest are also up for nomination. It is infrequent for a hip-hop artist to make it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Those who have previously been inducted include the likes of Tupac Shakur, Run-DMC, and LL Cool J. An artist within any genre successfully has to meet very stringent criteria to be eligible for induction. An act can only be nominated if it has been over 25 years since the release of their first-ever recording. This has allowed Elliott to become a potential member as her first commercial release, ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’, is now officially over 25 years old.
Missy Elliott is most definitely deserving of a place in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Missy, akin to so many legends, rose to fame in the mid-1990s and alongside Timbaland, the two made hits. In 1997, when Elliott released her debut album, Supa Dupa Fly, her career skyrocketed. Elliott’s first album gave the rapper her top 20 hit with ‘Sock It 2 Me’. The album landed at number three on the Billboard 200, which became a female rapper’s highest charting album debut.
The Virginia rapper continued to work alongside her good friend Timbaland. In 1999 she released her second album, Da Real World, and by 2000, the album was quickly certified platinum by the RIAA. Since her emergence, Elliott has been a permanent figure in the mainstream and has been recognised as a boundary breaker before. Missy Elliott is already a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was the recipient of the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 2019. So, with such an illustrious career, it is only fitting that she finally become and official member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Missy may not be inducted. However, the decision will ultimately be made by a select committee of more than 1,000 artists, historians and various music industry members who will conduct a vote later this year. Akin to the Grammys, the voting process has struggled over the years as it ignores artists of colour and women. In 2020, less than 8% of inductees were women. However, the establishment has said it is determined to ensure everything is conducted thoroughly and fairly, so we can only wait and see. The official inductees will be announced in May, along with the date and location of the induction ceremony. You can watch the official nominee reveal below.
