Metal Anarchy

KISS’ Gene Simmons recently made headlines after claiming “hip-hop does not belong in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.” However, amid his rant, he stirred up controversy after saying rap is “not [his] music,” because he doesn’t “come from the ghetto.” Some found the “ghetto” statement to be racist, but the musician has since doubled down.

Simmons told People the following:

“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.”

“Ghetto is a Jewish term … How could you be, when rock is Black music? It’s just a different Black music than hip-hop, which is also Black music.”

“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.”

“You’re not going to win the prize with talking about, ‘My people this and my people [that].’ … So if you want to play the card of … We’ve been tortured … Us too.”

“You can agree to disagree and still respect and admire each other. That’s fine. I have a sense of humor, and you don’t have to agree with my opinion, but I stand by my words. That’s what I believe.”

“One, I admire and respect hip-hop. Two, it is not rock ‘n’ roll. And three, when are Led Zeppelin and AC/DC going to be inducted into the Hip Hop Hall of Fame?”

Notably, Public Enemy’s Chuck D has also shared his thoughts on Simmons’ comments. He told TMZ the following [via The PRP]:

“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 also 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.”

Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) has since commented as well, telling TMZ rap belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame:

“Yeah, of course.”

“Gene Simmons has got a lot of opinions about a lot of things.”