It’s an annual springtime ritual: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces new inductees, and people complain. Some gripe about the existence of the Hall, some argue that it’s not important, and some get unreasonably angry about why certain acts got in.
This year, as in years past, some have carped about the inclusion (and now induction) of hip-hop legends Wu-Tang Clan. Setting aside one unfortunate reason some people are complaining, a common grumble against inducting rappers and hip-hop artists into the Rock Hall is that “it’s not rock and roll.”
That misses the point. The Hall’s criteria for induction is that artists must have released their first material 25 years prior and that they “have demonstrated musical excellence, impact, and influence.” It doesn’t have to be four guys with guitars and a drum kit.
We know this about the origins of rock: It’s deeply rooted not only in blues, but also jazz, country, folk, and even classical (roll over Beethoven, indeed). Early rock is built on a solid foundation of rhythm and blues, but faster. The Beatles worshipped Chuck Berry, as Berry himself was inspired by T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters. It’s not a stretch to include related genres in “rock and roll.” No less an authority than Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards addressed that genealogy in a 2006 interview with Guitar World; he said, “You listen to any of the old ’30s and ’40s big bands, they’re playing as much rock ’n’ roll as Bill Haley or Little Richard.”
Wu-Tang Clan’s music in particular is a dizzying mélange of references across cultural and musical spectrums. Samples in their songs are built from everything from Billy Preston to the Mary Poppins soundtrack. They reference comic books (as did Donovan on “Sunshine Superman” and Wings on “Magneto and Titanium Man”) and kung-fu movies (hello, Carl Douglas and Ash). That is, quite frankly, rock.
The walls separating musical styles are so thin they might as well be glass. In an April interview with The New York Times, Taylor Swift — who, if you remember, got her start in country music — remarked how emo bands like Dashboard Confessional and Fall Out Boy influenced her songwriting. Her work now is a wide-ranging style of pop that breaks many borders.
When she’s rightly eligible for induction in five years, people will probably complain about her, too.
This article is featured in the July/August 2026 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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