‘The Legends Panel’: YouTube Series Questions Repeated Denial Of Janet Jackson’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction


WARNING: The attached video contains strong language. Proceed at your own discretion.

The creators of The Legends Panel, a YouTube parody series centered on a sporadic, fictionalized gathering of some of the biggest stars in music and entertainment, have never been afraid to “spill the tea” (revealing deep truths about a subject) with their viewers, but their latest episode might be the strongest, and most controversial, they’ve ever created.

The newest comedic chapter, released Friday evening and entitled “To Shade or Not To Shade,” see the members of The Legends Panel — Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Prince, and Madonna — share their thoughts and comments on several recent pop culture moments and scandals, including the 2016 BET Awards; Bobby Brown’s 20/20 interview on his upcoming tell-all, Every Little Step; and also, the non-fulfilled inductions of Janet Jackson and several other female African-American singers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Although the latter of those topics is not necessary front-page news (both literally and figuratively), it is a subject that the co-creators of The Legends Panel, Lamont Hicks and Phabian Mitchell, feel incredibly strongly about. Hicks, who has been recognized by the “No Sleeep” superstar in the past, as noted here on the Inquisitr, recently explained through a powerful op-ed (co-written with Jordan Listenbee) that it’s not just Jackson who deserves to be recognized by the organization.

Despite being eligible for more than a decade, Jackson has received just one RRHoF nomination. [Photo by Matt Roberts/Stringer/Getty Images]
“Black men and women over the course of history have been known to not receive the credit due to them in several different ways,” he wrote, “and their contributions to the development of rock music is a major one. Conversely, while the presence of black men is severely low, what is even more discouraging is the [Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s] blatant disregard of women, especially women of color.”

In fact, as of the last ceremony in early 2016, only 18 women of color (as either solo or collective acts) are among the 726 artists and groups that are currently inducted.

“Even if [artists such as] Janet Jackson, Chaka Khan, and [mixed-gendered group] Chic are all inducted, it would only slightly raise the statistics,” he explained further. “The biggest question that I have, is why? [What] is it that the Recording Academy has [deemed] fit to exclude so many worthy people?”

That very question is what is asked of one of the current RRHoF inductees, Madonna, in the newest episode of The Legends Panel. As an agitated Janet, voiced by Hicks, inquires the reason of the surprisingly fast nature in which the “Ray of Light” singer was inducted (she was given the honor in 2008, the very same year she was first nominated), she offers some very interesting facts and race-related theories that are rarely touched on by the public, but are extremely valid.

“Is it an accolades thing,” Hicks, as Janet, questions. “[It] couldn’t be, not when Whitney [Houston] is the most awarded female artist of all-time, and I’m the second most awarded artist in history. But yet, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted you in your first eligible year. It took nearly 10 years after I became eligible [in 2007] to even get a nomination.”

After tossing out more “receipts,” or facts, about fellow Legends Panel members Houston (who has never been nominated) and Carey (who also lacks the deserved mention), the major and controversial elephant in the room is finally addressed.

“I wonder what type of privilege allowed you to get inducted in your first eligible year.”

That would be “white privilege,” for those who are lost, a controversial term for a societal privilege that benefits those who are Caucasian. Hicks claims that despite his very defiant yet relevant reasoning behind Jackson’s and others’ continued exclusion from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he does realize that the organization does perform significant work for music as a whole.

“[However],” as said in his op-ed, “what [I] could not let pass by, (especially seeing as though even now black women aren’t even being nominated as much as their white and to a lesser extent black male counterparts), is an opportunity to raise awareness of the aforementioned facts.”

Check out these facts for yourself in the newest episode of The Legends Panel for yourself, and answer this in the comments section: does Hicks have a point?

[Photo by Lamont Hicks/The Legends Panel]

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