Public Enemy’s Chuck D has responded to Gene Simmons’ recent comments that hip-hop shouldn’t belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Both Chuck D and Simmons are Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, with Public Enemy becoming the fourth hip-hop act to be inducted in 2013, while Simmons was inducted with KISS a year later.
Earlier this week, Simmons appeared on the Legends and Leaders podcast and hit out at the inclusion of hip-hop in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During the episode, Simmons lamented “the fact that Iron Maiden is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, when they can sell out stadiums, and Grandmaster Flash is.”
In addition to asking why Led Zeppelin weren’t inducted, Simmons also hit out at the genre itself in a racially veiled comment. “It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language.”
The bassist then faced an onslaught of backlash to his comments, including from Chuck D, who took to social media to reiterate that rock and roll as a term was more inclusive than he made out.
Talking to TMZ, the rapper said Simmons had wilfully forgotten about the “roll” part of the Hall’s name, which spans several genres.
“Everything else other than rock, when rock ‘n’ roll splintered in the ’60s, is the roll,” he explained. “Soul music, reggae, hip-hop, which is rap music. Hip-hop is a culture, so it embodies sight, sound, story, and style.”
“But music, the vocal on top of the music, has already been determined. So that’s the roll, that’s flow, that’s the soul in it. KISS are rock gods, but they don’t have a lot of roll to them.”
When fans hit out at Simmons over his comment, he doubled down on his stance, telling People, “I stand by my words.”
Chuck D is thee right person to address Gene Simmons’ tone deaf commentary.
I love how he focuses on the importance of music creation and narratives because it’s not enough to own our stories.
We have to keep telling them too. #BHMpic.twitter.com/qSIqLcxNTZ
— Renee (@PettyLupone) February 13, 2026
He also denied that his choice of words carried racially insensitive undertones, saying, “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.”
Additionally, Simmons acknowledged that “rock ‘n’ roll owes everything to Black music” and said “all the major forms of American music owe their roots to Black music”.
Simmons made similar waves in 2016 following NWA‘s induction into the Rock Hall Of Fame, telling Rolling Stone at the time he was “looking forward to the death of rap”.
At that year’s ceremony, MC Ren responded to his comments and pointedly told him: “Hip-hop is here forever. We’re supposed to be here.”
