Ought to the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame be reserved just for veterans of the rock style? It’s a stance Gene Simmons holds, and made clear throughout a latest look on the Legends N Leaders podcast. 

“Hip-hop doesn’t belong within the Rock And Roll Corridor Of Fame – nor does opera or symphony orchestras,” he stated.

Whether or not or not the Rock Corridor ought to embody artists from a variety of genres is up for debate – however the truth stays that many non-rock artists, together with hip-hop veterans like Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash and Run-D.M.C., rely themselves as inductees.

And in a brand new interview with TMZ, Public Enemy chief Chuck D refutes the feedback of his fellow Rock Corridor of Famer Gene Simmons, saying he’s lacking the “roll” a part of the Corridor’s title.

“All the pieces else apart from rock, when rock ‘n’ roll splintered within the ’60s, is the roll,” he explains [via NME]. “Soul music, reggae, hip-hop, which is rap music. Hip-hop is a tradition, so it embodies sight, sound, story, and magnificence.”

“However music, the vocal on high of the music, has already been decided. In order that’s the roll, that’s circulation, that’s the soul in it. Kiss are rock gods, however they don’t have a variety of roll to them.”

Chuck D is thee proper individual to handle Gene Simmons’ tone deaf commentary.

I like how he focuses on the significance of music creation and narratives as a result of it’s not sufficient to personal our tales.

We’ve to maintain telling them too. #BHMpic.twitter.com/qSIqLcxNTZ

— Renee (@PettyLupone) February 13, 2026

Gene Simmons attracted criticism along with his preliminary feedback, during which he spoke about hip-hop: “It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t communicate my language.”

In a latest interview with Folks, the bassist denied that his feedback have been racially veiled, saying, “I stand by my phrases,” whereas including: “Ghetto is a Jewish time period… How may you be, when rock is Black music? It’s only a totally different Black music than hip-hop, which can also be Black music.”

“Rock ‘n’ roll owes every part to Black music,” he concluded, including: “All the most important types of American music owe their roots to Black music.”

Sam is the Affiliate Information Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Completely immersed in music tradition for almost all of his life, Sam has performed guitar for 20 years, studied music know-how and manufacturing at college, and in addition written for the likes of Guitar World, Complete Guitar, Steel Hammer and MusicRadar.