I just found out yesterday that Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this Sunday, making the first rap/hip hop group to be inducted in said Hall of Fame. The other inductees this year are R.E.M., The Ronettes, Patti Smith, and Van Halen (who I felt should've been inducted immediately after gaining eligibility, given the legacy of Eddie Van Halen and how many people he influenced and inspired to pick up the six-stringed axe during the 80s).

I felt like I should bring this to the attention of you people, because I know there's a lot of rockers out here (like myself, though I'm actually a metalhead), as well as a lot of hip hop fans, including fans of either genre that detest the other (for those people, please try to keep it civilized in here). I also felt that I should address a question and get you're opinions as to whether or not rap/hip hop should be included in the storied museum located in Cleveland, Ohio.

Keep in mind, though, that while rap music has been around for about 3 decades and started gaining mainstream exposure in the 80s, the one thing that has mainly kept hip hop out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is their eligibility requirement; an artist/group's debut release must have released an album a minimum of 25 years prior, and rap/hip hop is a relatively new genre (rock, in contrast, has been around for over half a decade).

This historic occasion brings up my question: Should rappers be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or should the rap/hip hop genre have its own Hall of Fame? (By the way, Country music has its own Hall of Fame, and only two artists that I'm aware of are inducted in that Hall of Fame, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash)