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Eminem.

Best of the Rest

Eminem inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, MC5 snubbed

By Lee DeV ito

Will the real Slim Shady please stand up and accept your induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

The iconic Detroit rapper leads the latest class of 2022 inductees, along with ‘80s act Duran Duran, Dolly Parton, Pat Benatar & N eil Giraldo, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon.

Judas Priest and producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis will also receive a Musical Excellent A ward, and Harry Belafonte and Elizabeth Cotton will receive an Early Influence Award.

“This diverse group of inductees each had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture and helped change the course of rock ‘n’ roll,” said John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in a press release. “Their music moved generations and influenced so many artists that followed.”

The induction ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, N ov. 5 at the Microsoft Theater in Los A ngeles. To be eligible for induction, an artist had to have released their first records 25 years ago. Eminem dropped his debut record ite in 1996.

OK, Eminem’s music isn’t exactly rock ‘n’ roll, at least in the narrowest sense of the term, but he certainly embodies its devil-may-care attitude. But another Michigan act that absolutely embodies rock ‘n’ has been snubbed from the Rock Hall this year.

Classic rock act MC5 once again did not make the cut. It was the groundbreaking group’s sixth time getting nominated. The group’s debut Kick Out the Jams, recorded at Detroit’s former Grande Ballroom, came out more than a half-century ago, in 1969.

Metro Times did not snub MC5 last week, however. Guitarist Wayne Kramer, who has revived the band (at least by name) for his latest tour, is the subject of last week’s cover story.

Rihanna is opening a Savage X Fenty store in Detroit

Savage X Fenty, the lingerie brand created by pop singer and businesswoman Rihanna, is coming to Detroit.

The brand announced on its social media pages Wednesday that it’s opening six new retail locations. A long with Detroit, it’s also planning stores in Chicago; Long Island, N ew York; A tlanta; St. Louis; and N ewark, Delaware.

“Y’all were so good to us during our#SavageX IRLdebut, we just had to X tend the X perience,” the brand wrote on Instagram. “That’s right, we’re X cited to announce the opening of SIX new retail locations. See you soon: #ChicagoIsSavage #N YisSavage #A TLisSavage #DetroitIsSavage #STLisSavage #DEisSavage”

Crain’s Detroit Business reported that the store could be headed to a space owned by Dan Gilbert’s real estate firm, Bedrock Detroit. A map obtained by Crain’s last year shows a Savage X Fenty logo in the retail space immediately south of the Cornerstone Barrel House bar at the corner of Woodward A venue and John R Road.

Launching in 2018, the popular brand celebrates and speaks to all body types. The brand has stylish and affordable pieces for all genders, which includes lingerie, sleepwear, and cozy loungewear in sizes up to 4X L.

Savage X Fenty also operates on a subscription-based platform online, which allows customers to return to the site monthly for new products. The brand also offers new members at least 50 off their first purchase.

The new stores will join existing Savage X Fenty locations in Culver City, California; A rlington, V irginia; Las V egas; Houston; and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

In January, the brand also announced stores in Los A ngeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

The Savage X Fenty has a loyal following of 5 million across social media. The brand has accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time from major ambassadors promoting the line to fashion shows that debuted on A mazon Prime exclusively. Models include Detroit rapper Kash Doll, singer Summer Walker, and Cindy Crawford.

Details about when and where these new stores will be opening have yet to be disclosed.

Savage X Fenty is a joint venture between Rihanna, the company’s founder, and TechStyle Fashion Group.

—Darlene A. White

SHUTTERSTOCK

Congratulations are in order for Metro Times freelancer Imani Mixon, who earned third place, feature reporting for her 2021 cover story on the late pop star A aliyah.

The kudos was announced at the SPJ Detroit chapter awards ceremony in Troy last Thursday. (The full list of winners is available at the SPJ Detroit web site.)

When I started as editor in chief of Metro Times, I saw that there wasn’t much in our archives on the singer born A aliyah Haughton, a graduate of the Detroit School of A rts whose rapid ascent into superstardom was cut short when she tragically died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001 at age 22. I wanted to do something to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her death, and when Mixon approached me with the same idea, I knew the story was in excellent hands.

Mixon spent months writing her story, which coincided with an ex traordinary moment in the singer’s posthumous history. In the aftermath of her death, A aliyah’s music label dissolved, and as a result her hits from the era of CD sales and MTV music videos never migrated into the digital streaming era.

For a long time her only available record was A ge A in’t N othin’ but a N umber, her collaboration with the controversial singer R. Kelly, who was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of minors. It seemed like the singer’s legacy was doomed to obscurity, or at worst being a footnote in Kelly’s sordid history.

But then, weeks before the 20th anniversary of A aliyah’s death, her uncle Barry Hankerson made a surprise announcement that despite the wishes of the singer’s estate, he was reviving his label Blackground Records and reissuing the rest of her catalog, including her groundbreaking work with producers Missy Elliott and Timbaland. Then, on A ug. 18 came another extraordinary headline: A aliyah’s name was spoken, for the first time, in federal court as an underage victim of Kelly’s as part of his high-profile sexual trial.

Mixon consciously chose not to get into the details of those splashy developments, and her story is better for it. Instead, she focused on A aliyah’s music and what it meant to be a fan, interviewing the singer’s other collaborators and recalling what it was like to mourn the singer’s death at a roller skating rink as a young girl.

It’s a heartfelt story, and the beautiful cover illustration by Rachelle Baker makes it even sweeter.

—Lee DeVito