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Gene Simmons: Hip Hop DOESN’T Belong in Rock Hall of Fame

Rock legend an lead guitarist for Kiss Gene Simmons weighs in on Hip Hop artist being in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “if you don’t play guitar and you don’t write your own songs, you don’t belong there.”

CelebNMusic247.com has got the dish on Gene Simmons most recent interview with Radio.com as he complained about the induction of Hip Hop artists like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Run-DMC into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Simons is 100% all about Rock and Roll made valid points about the qualifications to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We get it, and We don’t understand why someone like Russell Simmons hasn’t started the Hip Hop Hall of Fame in New York. It makes better sense for Hip Hop to have their own gene, but with the ever changing light on music being change it seems that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has to change with the times as well, though we still feel there needs to be a Hip Hop Hall of Fame.

Simmons, was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall, and now he has a detailed opinion about the inductees.

It took forever for Kiss to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and their music was groundbreaking and started a movement. Kiss was the first group to have their real face covered by make up so fans never knew what they actually looked like for years. Which leads CelebNMusic247.com to this story in regards to Simmons complaint.

Simmons described the honor as:

“Diluted…I have no beef with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,”

“You go on with your bad self and get more Disco artists…A long time ago it was diluted. It’s really backroom politics, like Boss Tweed. A few 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-DMC 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 regards to his friend Donna Summer and her 2013 induction after she passed, Simmons returned to his critique of the selection committee.

Simmons said:

“Donna was my next door neighbor for many years, I knew and liked her, she was on my [1978] solo record.”

“But if you asked Donna, ‘What kind of artist are you?’ do you think she would say ‘Rock?’ If you asked Madonna, ‘What kind of artist are you?’ do you think she would say, ‘Oh, Rock!’ So what they hell are they doing in the Hall of Fame? They can run their organization any way they’d like, but it ain’t Rock! It just isn’t! If you don’t play guitar and you don’t write your own songs, you don’t belong there.”

In the same interview, Simmons described his dissatisfaction with the selection committee’s decision to induct only the original members of his own band, overlooking both a guitar player and drummer in the current lineup. As a result, Simmons and Kiss have decided not to perform at the ceremony scheduled for April 10 at the Barclay’s Center in New York City.

In regards to the 2007 induction of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five as the first Hip Hop artists to receive the honors, according to the Hall’s website.

Flash called the induction “a wonderful feeling.”

He said:

“This is bigger than me,”

“This induction is total acceptance from one of the most prestigious music associations in the world…It’s a wonderful feeling to be remembered [sic] the architects that pioneered an idea that the whole world fell in love with. It is called Hip Hop.”

Since then, Run-DMC inducted in 2009, the Bestie Boys in 2012 and Public Enemy in 2013. PE founder Chuch D said at the time, “It’s amazing to get the induction into the hall of fame now, given we never won a Grammy, never had a Rolling Stone magazine cover, and never had a Billboard top 10 single.”

“All the things that define success today, we never had. We had the influence, but not the awards to go with it. That speaks volumes about why you have to just do your thing and not worry about the other stuff. It comes when it comes.’’

Obviously The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has broadened their musical horizons, but they’ve only acknowledged four hip hop groups. Run DMC, Beaties, Public Enemy have all written their music and have crossed over into the rock gene, so they make sense.. Even the Furious Five is iconic for the foundation of hip hop’s fabric, so Gene Simmons NOT be so harsh on his comments.

Like we’ve stated there really needs to be a Hip Hop Hall of Fame, because groups like Depeche Mode, The Cure, Cheap Trick, Bad Company and many more are worthy as well.

Here is the complete list of Rock Inductees for 2014…