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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: NWA is in; women shut out

He joins others as an inductee in the 2016 class at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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The 2016 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have been named, and the roster skews heavily toward classic rock, with Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, Chicago and Steve Miller among the acts chosen by the nominating committee.

The Cleveland-based museum will honor the new members at an April 8 ceremony in NY that is sure to renew talk of a long-rumored N.W.A. reunion. The larger-than-life West Coast hip-hop group was likely boosted in their bid by this year’s blockbuster Straight Outta Compton, the hit biopic which told the story of the group and its music. There is no doubt that this return to the public consciousness helped the Rap legends get into the Hall. “It’s just hard to sum up in words, really”. It means a lot of things.

N.W.A., founded by rap legends Dr. Dre and Ice Cube in the 1990s in the troubled suburb of Los Angeles, introduced “gangsta” rap to American culture with their hardcore, true life tales of street violence and police brutality.

Performing from 1986 to 1991, the group was controversial due to their music’s explicit lyrics, which were often thought to be disrespectful of women and vocally oppositional to the police system in the United States (as highlighted in one of the band’s most popular songs, “F-k Tha Police”).

More than 20 years after their heyday, N.W.A.is having a history-making year.

Cheap Trick wanted the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to want them – and now that they’re in, guitarist Rick Nielsen admits the feeling is pretty sweet. There was never any despairing about it because we were still working and we still are working, whether we’re honored with it or not. The group’s “Live at Budokan” album is one of rock’s best-known live sets. Hello, on April 1, 2016.

“I want to thank everybody who voted for N.W.A to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, he said. The 72-year-old Miller has been eligible since 1993, but this was the first time he appeared on the ballot.

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Cheap Trick has been primed for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and Museum since 2002, but wasn’t nominated until this year’s ballot. Tickets to attend the ceremony can be purchased beginning in February, according to Billboard.

2016 Inductees