Chuck D, vocalist of Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame-inducted rap legends Public Enemy has weighed in on KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons‘s once again questioning the validity of rap and hip-hop artists being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Simmons, who previously feuded with members of gangsta rap legends N.W.A. back in 2016 around the time of their induction into the hall, reignited that controversy earlier this week, after newly made statements regarding his thoughts on the matter were circulated.
Simmons found himself facing backlash after recently telling the Legends N Leaders Podcast:
“Well, there’s ‘popular’ and then there are words like ‘relevance’. Who determines relevance? Critics? What is that word? How do you [become] relevant? Who does that? Or is it the American ideal? Of the people, for the people, by the people. The first words are ‘we the people’. That’s relevance to me… 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.
“Ice Cube and I had a back-and-forth, and he’s a bright guy and I respect what he’s done. It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language. And I said in print many times, hip-hop does not belong in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras. How come the New York Philharmonic doesn’t get [inducted into] the Rock And Roll [Hall Of Fame]?
‘Cause it’s called the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. But he shot back and said, No, it’s the spirit of rock and roll.’ Okay, fine. So Ice Cube and Grandmaster Flash and all these guys are in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I just wanna know when Led Zeppelin‘s gonna be in the Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame. ‘Oh, you can’t do that?’ Oh, really?”
You can recap Simmons‘ feud with N.W.A. members Ice Cube & MC Ren, as well as his past commentary on the genre, including his assertion that rap music will eventually “die”, over in this recently published story.
Since sharing his latest thoughts on the matter, Simmons has doubled down on his statements, while also denying any implied racism behind them. Now in a statement given to TMZ, Chuck D, who has also dipped his toes in the world of metal and rock with Prophets Of Rage and other projects, weighed in on the matter,
Chuck D started off by saying [transcribed by theprp.com]:
“Gene Simmons seems to say this about three years anyway, and I guess when the latest group of hip-hop artists and rap music artists come in [to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame], you know, he’s gonna issue his point. He’s a rock god. But what he fails to realize is that it’s the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
And everything else other than rock — when rock ‘n’ roll splintered in the ’60s, is the roll. And soul music, reggae, hip-hop — which is rap music, because hip-hop is a culture, so it embodies sight, sound, story and style — but music, the vocal on top of the music has already been determined. That’s the roll, that’s the flow, that’s the soul in it. KISS are rock gods, but they don’t have a lot of roll to them.”
He later added:
“[Gene‘s] never really going to get off of that point. So, we’re in a time where everybody is saying everything at the same time. Nobody’s really listening, so Gene is gonna probably scream out that probably for the rest of his life, and he’s entitled to his opinion.”
Drummer Chad Smith of funk rock icons (and fellow Rock & Roll Hall Of Famers) Red Hot Chili Peppers has also weighed in on the matter too. Accosted recently on the way to the airport by TMZ, Smith was asked if he felt rap belonged in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, to which he replied, “Yeah, of course.”
When it was pointed out that Gene Simmons felt that it doesn’t, Smith shrugged and stated, “Gene Simmons has got a lot of opinions about a lot of things.”
KISS were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame by Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello back in 2014. Public Enemy were inducted a year prior in 2013, being inducted by Spike Lee & Harry Belafonte, while the Red Hot Chili Peppers made it into the hall in 2012, being inducted by Chris Rock.
