Is Melle Mel right about Kendrick Lamar not being an influential rapper? 

Were Chaka Khan’s comments about Rolling Stone’s 200 Greatest Singers Lists taken too seriously?

Sunday night The Grammys celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with a lineup of some of the most prominent rappers of the genre. Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Run DMC, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Rakim, Mr. Scarface, Busta Rhymes, Too Short, Ice-T, Method Man, Lil Baby, GloRilla, LL Cool J and Public Enemy performed the compact tribute on the stage outfitted like 1520 Sedgwick Ave in the Bronx where DJ Kool Herc hosted the earliest hip-hop parties. Black Thought narrated the segment while The Roots provided the music. Questlove curated the evening and he, unfortunately, had to remove many artists because of time constraints. 

The We Are Family Foundation had their 2015 Celebration Gala honoring Chaka Khan, Caryl M. Stern and Bill McDermott on the evening of April 23rd at Manhattan Center’s Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Nile Rodgers, who is the founder of the non-profit We Are Family Foundation hosted the event that had a live auction and raised money for WAFF’s global youth initiatives, Three Dot Dash and TEDxTeen. Chaka Khan received the Humanitarian Award and she later joined Rodgers onstage during his 3-song tribute to her with Melle Mel. After going through “Ain’t Nobody,” “I Feel For You” and “I’m Every Woman” Rodgers was joined by his band Chic and they played “Le Freak,” “We Are Family” and their new song “I’ll Be There.”Q-Tip, The Rza and Tommy Boy founder Tom Silverman were among the attendees who walked the red carpet. For more information about WAFF go to
wearefamilyfoundation.org.

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Last night Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Common, Lupe Fiasco and LL Cool J performed “The Message” at The Grammy concert.