This year’s class - which includes Public Enemy and LL Cool J - shows how important Long Island was to the development of hip-hop, an influence that was also celebrated last month at VH1’s Hip-Hop Honors, which paid tribute to Amityville’s De La Soul and others with performances from Roosevelt’s Public Enemy, Brentwood’s EPMD and Uniondale’s Busta Rhymes.Chuck D says Long Island’s hip-hop influence came from its artists’ unique take on the world and a confidence to express it. “There are a lot of places that ask for people to love them,” he says. “We’ve always had a feeling, especially in my crew, of ‘take it or leave it.’ I think a lot of cats from Brooklyn and Queens or the Bronx were looking for acceptance. What we tried to instill on Long Island, back in the day, was ‘If you don’t like what we got, you can go to hell.’”

This year’s class - which includes Public Enemy and LL Cool J - shows how important Long Island was to the development of hip-hop, an influence that was also celebrated last month at VH1’s Hip-Hop Honors, which paid tribute to Amityville’s De La Soul and others with performances from Roosevelt’s Public Enemy, Brentwood’s EPMD and Uniondale’s Busta Rhymes.

Chuck D says Long Island’s hip-hop influence came from its artists’ unique take on the world and a confidence to express it.

“There are a lot of places that ask for people to love them,” he says. “We’ve always had a feeling, especially in my crew, of ‘take it or leave it.’ I think a lot of cats from Brooklyn and Queens or the Bronx were looking for acceptance. What we tried to instill on Long Island, back in the day, was ‘If you don’t like what we got, you can go to hell.’”