Gene Simmons has insisted “hip-hop does not belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”.
The KISS icon – who was inducted himself as part of the Rock And Roll All Nite band in 2014 – has reiterated his argument against the idea of rappers and other hip-hop artists being honoured by the same organisation.
He told the LegendsNLeaders podcast: “It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language.
“And as I said in print many times, hip-hop does not belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera or symphony orchestras. “How come the New York Philharmonic doesn’t get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Because it’s called the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Gene recalled his discussions with Ice Cube – who was inducted with the N.W.A. a year after KISS – and insisted the art form is more “spoken-word” than musical.
He said: “Ice Cube and I had a back and forth, He’s a bright guy, and I respect what he’s done… He shot back that it’s the ‘spirit’ of rock and roll…
“So Ice Cube and Grandmaster Flash and all these guys are in the Rock Roll Hall of Fame. I just want to know when Led Zeppelin’s going to be in the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame?
“Music has labels because it describes an approach. By and large, rap, hip-hop is a spoken-word art. Then you put beats in back of it and somebody comes up with a musical phrase, but it’s verbal.
“There are some melodies, but by and large, it’s a verbal thing.”
Speaking over a decade ago around his own induction, Ice Cube defended rap’s place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He told Rolling Stone magazine at the time: “Rap is a piece of rock and roll, but there’s also a piece of soul, a piece of R+B, a piece of blues — all of that music that comes before it.
“I think rap captures the spirit of rock and roll just like rappers and guys who do rock and roll capture the same spirit, but they might go in different directions with it. But it’s the same spirit.”