Missy Elliott and A Tribe Called Quest have been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced its list of nominees for the 2023 induction ceremony on Wednesday (February 1). Missy and Tribe lead the way for Hip Hop, while other nominees include Iron Maiden, Rage Against The Machine, Cyndi Lauper, George Michael and Willie Nelson.
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Missy Elliott is a first-time nominee and receives a nod in her first year of eligibility. Given that her debut album Supa Dupa Fly dropped in July 1997, the Virginia native meets the criteria, which states that 25 years must have passed since an artist’s first commercial recording.
“I have cried my eyes out,” she wrote on Instagram while reacting to the news. “I am so HUMBLY GRATEFUL for this nomination with also 14 other Amazing artist so grateful[.] To All of you & my fans who been through this journey with me I Thank You also 4 helping me get here[.] YOU ROCK.”
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A Tribe Called Quest, meanwhile, was previously nominated last year but didn’t receive enough votes to be inducted. One Hip Hop great who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022, though, was Eminem, who finished second on the fan ballot with nearly 685,000 votes — second only to Duran Duran.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2023 will be announced in May, with the induction ceremony taking place in the fall. Fans can cast their votes as part of the fan ballot here.
If successful, Missy Elliott and A Tribe Called Quest will join a growing list of rap royalty in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious were the first Hip Hop act to earn a spot in 2007, paving the way for Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, N.W.A, 2Pac, Biggie and JAY-Z to follow.
A Tribe Called Quest’s nomination arrives months after they were recognized by the U.S. Congress. In April, the National Recording Registry announced Tribe’s The Low End Theory and Wu-Tang Clan’sEnter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) were among the works of art that have been selected to be archived in the Library of Congress.
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“We are honored to have our work added to the prestigious National Recording Registry amongst so many other astounding works,” Q-Tip said in a statement. “We are humbled and grateful for this acknowledgment. Thank you so, so much.”
Missy, on the other hand, was the first female Hip Hop artist to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019. The ceremony was held at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, where the pioneering rapper gave a moving speech about her legendary career.
“Every time I come up to a podium … even with all the work that I’ve done, I don’t know, and I’m assuming it’s just God, I don’t know why I am here,” she said. “I want to say one thing to the writers, to the upcoming writers, ‘Do not give up.’ We all go through writer’s block.
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“Sometimes you just have to walk away from a record and come back to it. But don’t give up because I’m standing here. And this is big for Hip Hop, too.”
