Trying to figure out just who started the EMO genre is proving a bit difficult.  Sunny Day Real Estate has been given credit by some for that origin, as their debut album took the Post Grunge and brought melodic sounds to it.  The band did not last long, but they have been pointed out by many current EMO bands as a group that influenced them.  Although Sunny Day Real Estate seemingly meets the influence criteria, but we are guessing that the Hall will look for an EMO band with commercial success to put in instead.

It isn’t the fact that Portishead has only done three studio albums fourteen years apart that makes them an intriguing Hall of Fame candidate.  It is that Portishead could be the band that can get into the Hall while representing the Trip Hop genre.  Portishead was not he first to perform Trip Hop, but they performed it in an almost eerie, sensual way that made it more accessible and dare we say more interesting.  What might be more important is that unlike Massive Attack (who really started it), Portishead was able to become famous in America, and this is a fact that would put them in above any other Trip Hop acts.

Papa Roach started out as one of the many bands who were fusing Punk and Rap, but a listen to their later efforts displays a very good Hard Rock band.  Papa Roach overall is a talented band but they come across more as a band following a trend than setting one.  They are still producing good music, but they will have to change a few perceptions for them to have a remote chance for induction.

For a moment, Nas was the reigning Rap king of New York City.  Nas was (and still is) considered one of the great MCs and lyrically he was among the most gifted.  His debut effort (Illmatic) was considered one of the best of the 1990’s and while arguably he hasn’t reached that height since, he has still showcased brilliant Rap albums since.