Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2023; the importance of Missy Elliott being inducted with Kate Bush

While social media are championing the news that Kate Bush and Rage Against The Machine are being inducted as the Class of 2023 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, due to take place this November in Brooklyn, one such name has created history thank to their inclusion in this year’s class - one Melissa Elliott, aka Missy Elliott… aka Missy Misdemeanour.

Despite the years of inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it transpires that Elliott, 51, is the first black female hip-hop artist to ever be inducted - an incredible achievement but one that naturally has brought up discussions of equity regarding the voting process for inductees. This also comes off the back of Courtney Love’s recent discussion about how some anonymous voters should not be asked to vote in the ballot if they are “unfamiliar” with female artists - in Love’s case, her issue stemmed from one anonymous voter stating they weren’t too familiar with the works of Kate Bush despite her hallowed status in the music industry.

Elliot however marks the first time however that a black female hip-hop artist has been successfully inducted since the Hall of Fame began in 1986, which has already had 365 different musicians grace its “hallways.” However, one of the reasons for such a late inclusion could be due to the fact that hip-hop was never originally a genre that would be included in the balloting.

It was only in 2007 that hip-hop artists became eligible to be inducted, leading to  Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five becoming the first group to be inducted in 2007. That was then followed by further hip-hop inductees Run-DMC, N.W.A, Public Enemy and Tupac Shakur. However, there have been female nominees before Missy Elliot, with Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latfifa and MC Lyte entered into the ballot in 2018, 2019 and 2017 respectively - though they failed to garner enough public votes to officially be inducted.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2023 will be inducted at the Barclays Centre on November 3 2023, with Elliot, Bush and Rage Against The Machine joined by Sheryl Crow, George Michael, Willie Nelson and The Spinners.

What is Missy Elliot’s net worth?

As of 2022, Missy Elliott’s net worth has been valued at $50 million USD, making her one of the richest female hip-hop artists in music. While a great amount of this worth comes from her successful music career, helped along by producer du jour in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s Timbaland, Elliott had a number of endorsement deals during the height of her mainstream popularity.Elliott appeared in a number of commercials for Pepsi, Doritos and Amazon (alongside Michael B Jordan), while signing a deal in 2018 becoming a brand ambassador for Adidas - a brand known for their links to the hip-hop community by virtue of Run D.M.C. For a short while also, Elliott became one of the faces of MAC Cosmetics Viva Glam campaign, which raised funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS Research.