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Gene Simmons Responds To N.W.A. After Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Call-Out

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 11:03 PST, Apr 10, 2016

Gene Simmons has a message for N.W.A. The Kiss bassist is not changing his tune regarding his statements that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame should be for rock music acts only. After hip-hop group N.W.A. called out Simmons for his past comments on the subject during their Rock Hall induction speeches, Simmons fired back via Twitter, assuring the Compton rappers that he wouldn’t want to see a rock band in a hip-hop hall, either.

In his response, Gene told N.W.A. legends Ice Cube and MC Ren to give him a call when rock legend Jimi Hendrix makes it into the hip-hop hall of fame.

Gene Simmons has long been vocal about his disdain for rap music, but he took it to new heights last month in an interview with Rolling Stone. Gene said he was looking forward to the death of the rap genre and he predicted the end could come soon.

“I am looking forward to the death of rap,” Gene Simmons said. “I’m looking forward to music coming back to lyrics and melody, instead of just talking…Rap will die. Next year, 10 years from now, at some point, and then something else will come along.”

Before N.W.A.’s induction ceremony, Gene slammed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for inducting rap groups into their organization. Simmons told Radio that a few select people decide what’s “in” and what’s not.

“And the masses just scratch their heads. You’ve got Grandmaster Flash in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Run-D.M.C. in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? You’re killing me. That doesn’t mean those aren’t good artists. But they don’t play guitar. They sample and they talk. Not even sing.”

In an interview with the New York Times, N.W.A. founding member Ice Cube said he thinks Gene Simmons is wrong for claiming that the famous Rock Hall is just for rock artists.

“I respect Gene Simmons, but I think he’s wrong on this because rock ‘n’ roll is not an instrument and it’s not singing,” Ice Cube said. “Rock ‘n’ roll is a spirit. N.W.A is probably more rock ‘n’ roll than a lot of the people that he thinks belong there over hip-hop. We had the same spirit as punk rock, the same as the blues.”

It’s no surprise that when N.W.A. was inaugurated into the Rock Hall last week, both Ice Cube and MC Ren called out Gene Simmons for his past comments. According to Billboard, Ren delivered a personal message to Gene Simmons during his speech, telling the Kiss bassist that hip-hop is not going anywhere.

“I want to say to Mr. Gene Simmons that hip-hop is here forever. We’re supposed to be here,” MC Ren said.

In addition, in his passionate speech, Ice Cube explained that rock ‘n’ roll has nothing to do with musical style and is instead a “spirit.”

“The question is, ‘Are we rock ‘n’ roll?’ And I say — you goddamn right we rock ‘n’ roll,” Ice Cube said. “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.”

N.W.A. is only the fifth hip-hop act ever voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but if it was up to Gene Simmons they would be the last. Previous rap acts inaugurated into the organization were Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy.

Take a look at the video below to see Ice Cube and MC Ren call out Gene Simmons in their Hall of Fame speeches.

[Photo By Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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