Which group was the first hip-hop act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were the first hip-hop group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 2007.

Formed in the Bronx during the 1970s, the group helped turn DJ technique, breakbeats, and socially conscious rhymes into a new musical language. Grandmaster Flash, born Joseph Saddler, pioneered cutting, backspinning, and other turntable techniques that made the DJ a central performer rather than merely a record selector.

The group’s best-known song, “The Message,” released in 1982, brought stark accounts of urban hardship into mainstream popular music. Melle Mel delivered the verses, while the wider group included members such as The Kidd Creole, Cowboy, Rahiem, and Scorpio.

Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy, and N.W.A. are frequent mix-ups. All became hugely important Rock Hall inductees, but Run-D.M.C. followed in 2009, Public Enemy in 2013, and N.W.A. in 2016.