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Seminal rap groups Public Enemy and N.W.A. and electronic pioneers Kraftwerk highlight a potential Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class that suggests a further expansion of the parameters for music’s hallowed hall. The rest of 2013’s finalists includes rock bands Deep Purple, Rush, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Heart, blues artists Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and Albert King, funk mainstays The Meters, disco titans Donna Summer and Chic, and Motown group The Marvelettes.
The induction of the top five vote-getting acts will take place on April 18th, 2013, with votes culled from artists, industry members, historians, and, for the first time, fans.
Though the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is by no means the ultimate standard for judging musical importance, the inclusion of Public Enemy and N.W.A. (not to mention Kraftwerk and Donna Summer, each of whom advanced their respective genres and left legacies that have reverberated throughout electronic music past and present) could represent a landmark moment in the Hall’s history. At present, only three Hip-Hop acts have been inducted: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (2007), Run DMC (2009), and the Beastie Boys (2012). 2013 could mark the first year two Hip-Hop acts are ushered into the Hall.
(CoS)
