Chuck D has weighed in on Gene Simmons' comments about hip-hop music not being deserving of entering the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
In a recent interview with the Legends N Leaders podcast, the 76-year-old KISS rocker said that "hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame," while adding: "It's not my music. I don't come from the ghetto. It doesn't speak my language."
In response to a Complex social media post about Simmons' comments, the 65-year-old Public Enemy frontman acknowledged Simmons' influence but defended hip-hop's connection to rock.
"Gene definitely has his opinion and it carries major weight... however it is The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... not considering it 'ROCK' may hold a debatable point but clearly RAP and some other genres of movement are the 'ROLL,' he wrote.
Chuck D concluded :"Rock and Roll clearly splintered all over the place in the 1960s and big banged ever since."
Simmons also clarified on the Legends N Leaders podcast that he also doesn’t believe opera nor symphony orchestras should be inducted into Rock Hall.
"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 — he's a bright guy, and I respect what he's done," said the KISS bassist. "He shot back that it's the 'spirit' of rock and roll ... I just want to know when Led Zeppelin's going to be in the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame."
He described hip-hop as primarily verbal, saying: "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."
In response to some of the backlash Simmons received for his statement, he told People in a statement on Wednesday (February 11): "I stand by my words."
He continued: "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."
Simmons concluded: "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."
