wake that ass up in the morning The Breakfast Club morning everybody it's DJ Envy Charlemagne the guy we are The Breakfast Club we got our guest co-host Kim Whitley here and we got a special guest joining us today uh he goes by the name of John Sykes he's the president of entertainment Enterprises here at iHeart our boss one of the three wise men yes over here he's uh part responsible for this beautiful Studio we have here and I'll deal with bet and he is the chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame good morning
good to be here thanks for having me here on The Breakfast Club I'm excited you got to be tired because me and you left the game late last night next one though go Knicks man they pulled it out and they just did great how proud absolutely I don't know why you know John I've known you for so long but I did not know you was the chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I have complained a lot about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame changing their name it should just be the
Music Hall of Fame why is it regulated to just rock and roll what's funny uh Jay-Z said the same thing a couple years ago when he got in I think over the past few years not past years past 10 or 20 years people have mistaken rocking roll a rock for rock and roll rock is a bunch of white guys playing guitars which is part of rock and roll rock and roll came from Rhythm Blues Gospel uh country and it's an amalgam of sounds that really represented Young America and rebelling against their parents the church the
government and that's what rock and roll was you know for I'd say um six of the first ten inductees of the Rock Roll Hall of Fame were black Chuck Berry Little Richard you know fat style and on and on Ray Charles and so what happened was it spread and it found itself in in the Beatles In The Rolling Stones but also in Marvin Gaye and then and now with hip-hop but if you trace all the music you hear that's moving Young America it goes back to the roots of rock and roll so I really felt
and Jay's been my friend for many many years and went and he pushed back on it like explain it to him he goes you know you should tell more people about this right yeah because it's this I get yeah it was reductively known as rock which is only one one cornerstone but when Jay-Z won or accepted his award that Dave Chappelle gave him in Cleveland two years ago he held it up and said now that's rock and roll oh wow so okay what's the criteria of being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Rock
Hall of Fame you have to have had a record out for at least 25 years and and so that's technically the criteria subjectively the criteria is that you've moved culture that something you've done has moved young fans or other artists to fall in your footsteps so if you so just selling a lot of Records is just one part of it having an impact and moving music moving culture is uh is is a big part of it it's really excellent well that's interesting because I wonder is there anyone who's been upset they're like I've done all
that I really want because you have so many musicians is there anyone has been upset and like I I Mark all these boxes how can I get in oh boy it's like I've unlist my phone number it's and and because because it's very subjective and people say well I've done this it's like Cooperstown or NFL like why is it so and so and it's that's where it moves from objective to subjective where once you have the criteria you have a group of of 30 uh a 30 nominee uh committees have made up of 30 nominees
uh or voters and it's like Quest love uh little Stephen from the Springsteen band uh Dave Grohl music critics it's an amount this group of of uh of experts and then they send the 30 num the 30 people nominate 17 artists and then they go to a general voting category of 1200. so so being that is uh in New York this year on the 50th year of hip-hop I'm assuming it's gonna be a lot of uh hip-hop inductees yeah well we've got DJ cooler is getting the uh is getting the musical is getting the um
musical influence award okay 50 years ago right wow I know we're in Brooklyn but he was in the Bronx when he found it but so we're going to honor DJ kuhirk um this is not hip hop but uh Don Cornelius Soul Train yeah he's going in he brought black music into not black homes but white homes and he was you know they call him the Black Dick Clark so when I got here I go why isn't he in so this year so it doesn't have to just be about recording artists just people in music that
push the culture because exactly because and we I mean there's a performer category and that's that's what that's what Missy Elliott Rage Against the Machine Willie Nelson all these people are getting in then there's really Nelson's just getting in yeah I know see see that's the problem George Michael just getting in I know this is the message Sheryl Crow Willie Nelson yeah it's interesting I mean the guy's 90 years old Jesus finally gets in so we got is he coming he's coming man he's coming but here you have two you know you have iconic moments
you have the 50th anniversary of the founding of hip-hop and Willie Nelson's 90th birthday happening that we're going to celebrate that night is he going to perform uh yeah he's going to perform he's still playing he played this week this week in Hollywood Bowl with like everybody came to play with the Willie Nelson the guys he's he's a machine I heard you don't smoke no more I heard he still gets hired but he does like Edibles you know he don't smoke messing with his vocals yeah I thought I think he might did he ask him
to have a cancer or something am I making this up I'm not sure but you know at 90 you got to change right first female hip-hop artist ever to get in the rocker Hall of Fame Chris female and but you know it also something about hip-hop that people that people don't know is the last of four years hip-hop artists have gotten in first ballot which is impossible which was which is Biggie J M M and now Missy wow so it's uh but that shows what rock and roll I mean you look at this you look
at the inductees list Willie Nelson Kate Bush Missy Elliott George Michael Rage Against the Machine Sheryl Crow The Spinners it touches all bases that's right well I know you got to go because I know you're doing musical Excellence to the wall we got to talk about that too Chaka Khan Chaka Khan Chaka Khan Chaka Khan yeah very topping wrote all those Elton John songs oh that's that's the song Because that's the musical Excellence it could be it used to be called the sidemen uh category where like a drummer or guitar player and now now Rogers
is in this producer Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are in uh uh Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff uh it's it could be and Bernie who wrote for for um Elton now occasionally a performer gets in musical Excellence because Chaka Khan has been on the ballot so many times that that the that the um committee decides it's time to put her in as someone who's influenced music so I'm proud I'm proud when you look at this list it's everybody it's white black short tall fat skinny it's like it's but that's rock and roll rock and roll
is not Jazz it's not Elite it's owned by the fans it's been it's about sex but it was there but it was about rebellion and uh so it it it it it to be relevant you gotta be evolving that's right otherwise you'll be the old person's Hall of Fame that's right I mean they play music here at The Breakfast Club is there a category will they ever get in oh good question yeah Breakfast Club yeah the breakfast it's music you know uh well let me see there was a DJ from San Francisco I think many
many years ago when a progressive but uh that's why we're moving towards where Don Don Cornelius and people who who who basically curated music so I think DJs should be look at the records you brought with you well I mean DJ Cool work now exactly 30 38th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame it goes down Friday November 3rd at the Barclays and we appreciate you for stopping I know you got a lot of runs a lot of stations to to run by this morning what's well one floor here it's easy that's right but listen
thanks for having me you know I'm a fan of you guys so much and I really you know this is you're so much a part of what is rock and roll from we've seen by the inductees and uh and I'm just so proud that you had me on thank you so much it's John Sykes yes it's The Breakfast Club good morning wake that ass up in the morning The Breakfast Club
