Chuck D isn’t here for Gene Simmons dismissing hip-hop from Rock Hall: ‘[He] says this every three years’

The Kiss rocker drew widespread criticism for his comments about hip-hop’s inclusion in the Rock Hall, as rappers have been front and center in recent induction years, from A Tribe Called Quest to OutKast.

As one of the forefathers of speaking out in hip-hop, Public Enemy rapper Chuck D isn’t one to shield his thoughts.

After Kiss bassist Gene Simmons slammed the idea of hip-hop being included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because it isn’t rock music, Chuck laughed off Simmons’ take, saying it’s a gripe Simmons seems to have quite often.

“Gene Simmons seems to say this every three years,” Chuck said in a video posted by TMZ on Thursday (Feb. 12). “I guess when the latest group of hip-hop artists and rap music artists come in he’s gonna issue his point. He’s the rock god, you know? 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.” 

In 2013, Public Enemy was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame, one year before Kiss received the honor. In the past two years, A Tribe Called Quest, OutKast, and Salt-N-Pepa have been inducted into the esteemed Hall.

When asked what he meant by the “roll,” D explained his definition. “The roll, that’s the flow, that’s the soul in it. Yeah, KISS are rock gods, but they don’t have a lot of roll to them.”

Simmons drew the wrath of plenty in the music community with his comments on the “LegendsNLeaders” podcast, upset that rock band Iron Maiden was still not in the Hall, but Grandmaster Flash, a hip-hop pioneer and the architect behind “The Message,” is.

“Ice Cube and I had a back and forth — he’s a bright guy, and I respect what he’s done,” Simmons said. “It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language. I said in print many times: Hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras … it’s called the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”

Concerning “the ghetto” as Simmons referenced, Chuck held no ill will about those comments.

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“Ghetto don’t mean Black… ghettos came out of [a] European term, a cluster of people who were kind of like the same tribe in the same area,” he said. “You just gotta have education so you won’t be rattled by things that just come out of left field.”

Even when Kiss finally got in, Public Enemy was appreciative of what they had done for music. Simmons, however, didn’t hold PE in the same regard. Days after the fiery conversation on “LegendsNLeaders” aired, Simmons defended his comments, telling People, “I stand by my words.”

“The word’ ghetto,’ it originated with Jews,” he said. “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.”

He added, “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.”