Missy Elliott inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — first woman rapper

Why it matters

November 3, 2023. Missy Elliott was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 38th ceremony, held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was her first year of eligibility. She is the first woman hip-hop artist inducted into the Hall. Queen Latifah gave the induction speech. This took a very long time. The Hall had been inducting hip-hop acts since 2007 (Grandmaster Flash). Sixteen years of inductions had produced exactly zero women MCs. The pipeline of eligible candidates had not been empty: Roxanne Shanté, MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah herself, Lil Kim, Lauryn Hill, all had been eligible for years. The Hall got to Missy first in 2023, partly because she is one of the most universally beloved figures in rap and partly because her commercial achievements (Grammys, platinum certifications, video-direction work, songwriting credits across pop and R&B) are voluminous enough that even the slowest institutional gatekeepers could not argue. Queen Latifah's induction speech was a celebration of Missy and, audibly, a polite rebuke of how long the institution had taken to get here. You can watch the footage. The speech is worth your time.