It\u2019s more like the Hall of Hard Feelings for the Demon. <\/p>\n
Gene Simmons is again sticking his tongue out at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame<\/a> for allowing hip-hop artists to snag a spot in rock\u2019s most exclusive club.<\/p>\n The 76-year-old KISS co-founder \u2014 who was inducted into the Cleveland shrine for rock with the band in 2014 \u2014 appeared on the \u201cLegendsNLeaders<\/a>\u201d podcast last week, where he flipped the script on host Ben Weiss and asked which band shaped him most growing up.<\/p>\n Gene Simmons is reigniting his feud with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, slamming the organization for allowing hip-hop acts into rock\u2019s most exclusive club. Getty Images<\/p>\n When the 25-year-old host revealed he gravitated toward more \u201chip-hop adjacent stuff\u201d in his youth, Simmons blasted the genre and seethed that rap stars have scored spots in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not my music,\u201d said the rocker, whose on-stage persona is \u201cThe Demon.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t come from the ghetto. It doesn\u2019t speak my language. And as I said in print many times, hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera or symphony orchestras.<\/p>\n \u201cHow come the New York Philharmonic doesn\u2019t get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?\u201d he snarked.<\/p>\n Simmons doubled down, fuming that metal giants Iron Maiden still haven\u2019t snagged a Hall of Fame nod while hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash has been.<\/p>\n \u201cIron Maiden is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when they can sell out stadiums,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum building in Cleveland, Ohio. Getty Images<\/p>\n The \u201cRock and Roll All Nite\u201d singer then rehashed his feud with Ice Cube over the rapper\u2019s opinions on hip-hop.<\/p>\n \u201cIce Cube and I had a back and forth,\u201d the KISS frontman said, adding that he thinks the \u201cIt Was a Good Day\u201d rhymer is \u201ca bright guy,\u201d and has respect for what he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n \u201cHe shot back that it\u2019s the \u2018spirit\u2019 of rock and roll \u2026 I just want to know when Led Zeppelin\u2019s going to be in the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame?<\/p>\n Inductee Gene Simmons of KISS speaks onstage at the 29th Annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on April 10, 2014 in New York City. Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cMusic has labels because it describes an approach. By and large, rap, hip-hop is a spoken-word art,\u201d he continued. Then you put beats in back of it and somebody comes up with a musical phrase, but it\u2019s verbal. There are some melodies, but by and large, it\u2019s a verbal thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The outspoken rocker has long blasted the Hall for embracing hip-hop \u2014 sparking a rift between the \u201cDetroit Rock City\u201d singer and rap heavyweights.<\/p>\n When gangster rap legends N.W.A. were inducted in 2016, MC Ren told Simmons, \u201chip-hop is here forever \u2014 get used to it\u201d during the group\u2019s acceptance speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n Simmons performs with KISS at Staples Center on March 4, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images for ABA<\/p>\n It came as a direct clapback to a 2015 Rolling Stone interview in which Simmons said he was eagerly awaiting the \u201cdeath of rap.\u201d<\/p>\n The KISS bassist is not the only legendary rocker to have gripes about hip-hop.<\/p>\n Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards once sneered that it\u2019s \u201cso many words, so little said,\u201d and claimed the genre caters to a \u201ctone-deaf\u201d audience in a 2015 interview with the New York Daily News<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAll they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it, and they\u2019re happy. There\u2019s an enormous market for people who can\u2019t tell one note from another,\u201d Richards said.<\/p>\n