Gene Simmons is still railing against the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's embrace of hip-hop, and he's not softening his language. Appearing on the LegendsNLeaders podcast, the Kiss co-founder said rap "does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera or symphony orchestras," adding of the former, "It's not my music. I don't come from the ghetto. It doesn't speak my language." The 76-year-old also argues that labels matter, as hip-hop is "by and large ... a spoken-word art" laid over beats, not rock music, per Rolling Stone.
Simmons recounted an earlier debate with Ice Cube, who has pushed back that rap embodies the "spirit" of rock and roll. NWA's 2015 induction spurred the rapper to explain that hip-hop is built from the same musical DNA—rock, soul, R&B, and blues. Simmons, inducted himself in 2014, has long said rock is dead, claiming no act since the '80s reaches Beatles-level cultural saturation, dismissing the idea that most people would recognize stars like Radiohead's Thom Yorke or Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl on the street.
The Kiss star is already facing backlash for his "ghetto" comment, but he's not backing down. "I stand by my words," he tells People. "Let's cut to the chase. The word 'ghetto,' it originated with Jews. It was borrowed by African Americans in particular and respectfully, not in a bad way." He added that "rock 'n' roll owes everything to Black music, statement of fact, period. All the major forms of American music owe their roots to Black music."
Simmons has also stirred up old band drama. He recently told Professor of Rock that Peter Criss "had nothing to do" with writing the ballad "Beth," calling the origin story "mythology." Criss responded via Billboard that Simmons "wasn't there" when the song was created and called his remarks "ridiculous and very uncalled for." "He talks about things that he doesn't know about," Criss added.
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