Gene Simmons Says Rap Doesn't Belong In Rock Hall Of Fame

Look, as a super fan of multiple genres of music — including hip-hop, r&b, reggae, bluegrass, and, of course, rock and roll — I just need to say…

KISS frontman Gene Simmons is out here trying to piss me off.

Recently, Simmons shared his thoughts on why hip-hop artists shouldn’t be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, an argument that salty, crusty, stiff line-dancing, clapping on the 1 and 3, washclothless white people have been making since 2007, when Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted by Jay-Z, marking the very first time rap artists made the cut.

Simmons recalled debating the issue with legendary rapper Ice Cube, who tried his best to school the 76-year-old, but unfortunately, the 76-year-old simply didn’t have the capacity (or lack of caucasity) to be schooled.

From Billboard:

While guesting on LegendsNLeaders, Simmons was explaining that he thinks critics and official musical institutions can’t be trusted to determine a band or artist’s relevance when he brought up the Rock Hall as an example. “The fact that, for instance, Iron Maiden is not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when they can sell out stadiums, and Grandmaster Flash is,” he began.

“Ice Cube and I had a back and forth — he’s a bright guy, and I respect what he’s done,” Simmons continued. “It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language. I said in print many times: Hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras … it’s called the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

“But [Ice] shot back and said, ‘No, it’s the spirit of rock n’ roll,’” the bassist added. “OK, fine … I just want to know when Led Zeppelin’s gonna be in the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. Music has labels, because it describes an approach.”

Now, look, if it weren’t for Simmons’ line about how he doesn’t “come from the ghetto,” I would have been fine chalking his loud and wrong opinion up to simple bias against a specific musical genre. Dude doesn’t like rap. It’s fine. It is what it is. But diminishing the entire art form as “ghetto,” especially while essentially admitting he doesn’t know the first thing about the genre or the culture that birthed it? Nah — he told on himself with that remark, and no amount of “But wait, I can’t be racist with a Black friend like Ice Cube” is going to prompt me to let that slide.

But you know what? Whatever. Simmons is a white, wrinkly old man who probably still hasn’t eliminated the word “colored” from his lexicon, or reconciled his racist nonsense with the fact that Black people are largely responsible for the very musical genre he is trying to gatekeep.

Instead, I’ll just focus on why Simmons is wrong and how he appears to have misunderstood the mission of the RRHOF in the first place.

Now, far be it from me, a non-musician, to assert my opinion on rock and roll over a rock and roll legend like Simmons, but this isn’t about the genre; it’s about the Hall of Fame — and Simmons doesn’t know WTF he’s talking about.

Fun fact: Since the RRHOF was established in 1983 and inducted its first batch of artists in 1986, every single group of inductees has included non-rock artists. Every. Single. Year.

In ’86, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and James Brown were included among the first group. The next year, The Coasters, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Jackie Wilson, Smokey Robinson, and other artists — who are certainly credited with influencing rock music, but are not technically rock artists — were inducted.

Over the next decade, acts like The Temptations, Bobby “Blue” Bland, The Isley Brothers, The Four Tops, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Etta James, Al Green, and countless other non-rock artists earned their spots in the Hall of Fame.

But here’s the thing: Even rock and roll artists and aficionados, who are salty, probably racist, and quick to associate everything urban and Black with the “ghetto,” aren’t going to be bold enough to tell some of the most iconic, influential and renowned r&b and blues artists in music history that they don’t “belong” literally anywhere — which is why they save their ire for rap music, which has pretty much always been a safe genre for white people to shit on.

Simmons would never have been bold enough to come out of the side of his face and complain that Franklin, Wonder, or Robinson were inducted while Iron Maiden is still waiting, because he knows that would’ve gotten him dragged by everyone, including his own rock and roll peers and contemporaries. So, he goes after Grandmaster Flash, as I’m sure he would go after Run-DMC, LL Cool J, N.W.A., Public Enemy, 2pac, and The Notorious B.I.G. (Somehow, I’m not quite sure he would have the same issue with the Beastie Boys, though. Just can’t qu-white put my finger on why.)

Last year, Salt-N-Peppa and OutKast became the latest hip-hoppers to be honored by the RRHOF, and the clueless and hueless got predictably perturbed about it.

Seriously, OutKast.

If one has an issue with arguably the most genre-bending rap group in hip-hop history — who has not done a single album that wasn’t heavily influenced by rock music, among other genres — then it’s not about what does and doesn’t “belong.” They just hate rap music, which, again, is fine, but I wish they’d just say that.

Again, the RRHOF hasn’t changed since it was established, so if a person has an issue with the institution including rappers — or non-rock artists of any genre, for that matter — they don’t have a problem with what it has become; they have a problem with what it has always been.

So, to Gene Simmons and every other rock and roll head that has been showing their white asses over this issue for nearly 20 years, please, for the love of Black people and hip-hop heads everywhere…

STFU and go wash your legs. Please and thank you.

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