Chuck D Checks Gene Simmons Over Hip-Hop Rock Hall Jab

Chuck D, the frontman of longtime Hip-Hop band Public Enemy, is a staunch champion of the culture and continues to promote the music with all his might. Gene Simmons, a critic of Hip-Hop’s inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had choice words that were checked by Chuck D.

Gene Simmons, 76, was a guest on the Legends N Leaders podcast and made the controversial quip that Hip-Hop acts shouldn’t be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame based on criteria only Mr. Simmons seems to lord over.

“It’s not my music,” Simmons said. “I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t 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.

He added, “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. 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.”

Chuck D, 65, had time this week and respectfully responded to a post on the X platform referencing Simmons’ quote.

“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’ .. Rock and Roll clearly splintered all over the place in the 1960s and big banged ever since,” Chuck D said.

Mr. Chuck took the high road despite the tasteless use of the term ghetto by Simmons. Perhaps far more grace than most Hip-Hop veterans would show.

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Photo: Getty