Gene Simmons: Hip-Hop Music Doesn't Belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Music General
cryptoflovecraft — 1 month ago(February 14, 2026 06:14 PM)
Very rarely do I agree with Gene Simmons on anything but he's right about this. Rap and hip-hop have no place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Wed, February 11, 2026
Gene Simmons says legendary rap and hip-hop artists don’t have a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The KISS frontman tried to make a case for excluding certain artists from rock’s biggest honor during a podcast interview with LegendsNLeaders.
“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, right?” he said in an interview first posted last week. “Ice Cube and I had a back and forth [about this]. 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.”
Continued Simmons: “And I said in print many times: Hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Nor does opera, symphonies, orchestras. How come the New York Philharmonic doesn’t get in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Because it’s called the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!”
“But [Ice Cube] shot back and said, ‘No, it’s the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.’ Okay, fine. So Ice Cube and Grandmaster Flash and all these guys are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I just want to know when Led Zeppelin is going to be in the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. ‘Oh, you can’t do that.’ Oh, really? Music has labels because it describes an approach. Hip-hop and rap is a spoken word art. There are some melodies but, by and large, it’s a verbal thing.”
“It just doesn’t speak to me,” he concluded. “The genius of being able to put music and words and arrange it is much more complex.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame had no immediate comment on Simmons’ remarks.
KISS was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. Ice Cube’s rap group N.W.A. was inducted two years later. Other rap artists who have been inducted include Eminem and Jay-Z.
Ice Cube previously said about the issue, “Rock ‘n’ roll is not an instrument. It’s not even a style of music. It’s a spirit that’s been going on since the blues, jazz, bebop, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, heavy metal, punk rock and, yes, hip-hop. Rock ‘n’ roll is not conforming to the people who came before you, but creating your own path in music and life.”
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/gene-simmons-says-hip-hop-200015010.html -
sheetsadam1 — 1 month ago(February 14, 2026 07:12 PM)
If you're talking about Dolly and Willie now being inductees, I agree. But Hank Williams and maybe a few others were inducted as "early influences" and that seems completely reasonable.
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026 -
Booger! — 1 month ago(February 14, 2026 07:20 PM)
I truthfully don't mind any of them…the more the merrier in my book…but if we're gonna get all picky and choosey about hip hop then **** country and r&b and blues and the rest. I get grumpy when it comes to this particular grift lol
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sheetsadam1 — 1 month ago(February 14, 2026 07:29 PM)
Oh yeah, they've inducted R&B and blues since the very beginning. Good point! And quite a few who were pop much more so than rock. Bobby Darin, to name one example.
"Praise be to Allah." - President Donald J. Trump, Easter Sunday 04/05/2026 -
Booger! — 1 month ago(February 14, 2026 07:50 PM)
Best hip hop album of all time In my humble opinion! Someday I will complete the album…but this is the unedited version of volume onethat does include ryall(5min mark) and I gotta say that I was extremely pleased with the finished product. The other tunes are solid too especially if you like videos with women and especially women's tushies…shake your rump offers a lot of opportunities
Volume two is actually finished and has been for over a year but I've not yet uploaded it…no idea why… probably should do that lol!
I typically only hock the videos that are FB specific on here…but I am fairly proud of my music videos and this is a fine setting to go shameless plug lol -
cryptoflovecraft — 1 month ago(February 15, 2026 12:56 AM)
I consider Hip Hop to be music. It's just not rock music. I'd say the same thing about experimental genres that I like such as Dark Ambient, Martial Industrial, and Power Electronics. I wouldn't put Throbbing Gristle (as much as I love them) or Whitehouse in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame either. Not rock music.
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/.ㅤ — 1 month ago(February 14, 2026 10:26 PM)
If it weren't for the blacks and theír contributions to music he wouldn't have rock n roll or the rock n roll hall of fame. He needs to go sit his Bela Lugosi creature of the night looking ass down somewhere and stfu.
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