Gene Simmons Says Rap Music Doesn’t ‘Speak’ To Him Like Rock And Roll

Gene Simmons has never been subtle about how he feels, and that hasn’t changed in 2026.

In a recent Gene Simmons interview on the Legends N Leaders podcast with Ben Weiss, the KISS bassist and co-founder unpacked his long running views on musical relevance, genre boundaries, and why rap music has never connected with him in the same way rock and roll has.

Asked about cultural relevance, Simmons dismissed the idea outright, saying:

“I don’t care. You just brought up a subject I could give a fuck about… Well, there’s ‘popular’ and then there are words like ‘relevance’. Who determines relevance? Critics?”

He pointed to Iron Maiden’s continued stadium selling power as evidence that popularity and institutional recognition often don’t line up, contrasting their absence from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with the induction of Grandmaster Flash.

Simmons also revisited a past debate with Ice Cube over hip-hop’s place in the Hall, saying:

“It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language. And I said in print many times, hip-hop does not belong in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, nor does opera, symphony orchestras.”

While acknowledging Ice Cube’s influence, Simmons doubled down on genre distinctions, describing rap and hip-hop as primarily spoken word art forms.

“By and large, rap, hip-hop is a spoken-word art… it’s verbal. There are some melodies, but by and large it’s a verbal thing.”

He contrasted that with what he sees as the complexity of songwriting in rock, adding:

“The hardest thing to do is to write a simple, memorable song.”

Simmons also took aim at EDM culture and its lack of legacy bands, while maintaining he enjoys anything that makes people happy, his broader concern landed on the modern music industry’s economics, arguing that the lack of advances and free downloads are preventing the next Beatles level artist from emerging (per Billboard).

Looking back, Simmons drew a hard line between the cultural impact of artists from 1958 to 1988 and what’s followed since, concluding:

“Very few things stick to the bones.”

KISS played their final shows in makeup in December 2023 at Madison Square Garden and have since sold their catalogue and brand to Pophouse Entertainment, with future projects including a biopic and avatar show already in development.

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