Public Enemy inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Why it matters

April 18, 2013. Public Enemy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. PE was inducted in their first year of eligibility, which is unusual. Spike Lee gave the induction speech. Chuck D and Flavor Flav performed "Bring the Noise" with Tom Morello and Harry Belafonte on stage with them. The Hall had taken six years to get to Run-DMC after Grandmaster Flash. They got to PE four years later, on the first ballot. That was correct. PE in their late-80s and early-90s peak (Yo! Bum Rush the Show, It Takes a Nation of Millions, Fear of a Black Planet, Apocalypse 91) had been the most uncompromising mainstream rap group of their era and one of the most influential acts in any genre across the late twentieth century. The induction speech Lee gave, and the performance with Belafonte (who had also produced Beat Street thirty years earlier and never stopped showing up for hip-hop), pulled together a chain of mutual support across decades. You should watch the footage. The Bomb Squad is still loud, even at a Hall of Fame ceremony.