Gene Simmons has found himself having to defend using the word “ghetto” while explaining why he feels rap artists don’t belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
In case you missed the original story, during a recent appearance on the Legends N Leaders podcast, he said rap is more spoken word than melody-driven music. He reasons, “Okay, fine. So Ice Cube and Grandmaster Flash, and all these guys are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I just wanna know when Led Zeppelin’s gonna be in the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.”
And, apparently his critique was also cultural, as he said he can’t relate to the music because he doesn’t come “from the ghetto,” and that apparently offended some people.
But he’s not phased, saying, “I stand by my words. Let’s cut to the chase. The word ‘ghetto’, it originated with Jews. 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. 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.”
Simmons and his band will be hitting the road next week with two shows in Louisiana — the 20th in Lake Charles and 21st in Bossier City — before boarding the Rock Legends Cruise in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the 23rd.
