In a new interview with Rolling Stone, KISS‘ Gene Simmons said that he is not happy hit pop charts. “I am looking forward to the death of rap,” he said. “I’m looking forward to music coming back to lyrics and melody, instead of just talking. A song, as far as I’m concerned, is by definition lyric and melody … or just melody.”
The roots of hip-hop, in his opinion, date back to the Sixties. “I’m all for anybody talking. ‘Wild Thing’ was talking: ‘Wild thing, she makes my heart sing/ she makes everything … .’ There’s no melody there. That’s cool. Napoleon XIV, ‘They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!’ That’s a funny song, but those are novelty records. So was Dickie Goodman and ‘Mr. Jaws’. These were all hits, by the way. But predominantly, music is about melody and lyric, whether it’s rap or doo-wop, or yeah, even rock.”
Simmons added: “Rap will die. Next year, ten years from now, at some point, and then something else will come along. And all that is good and healthy.”
Asked whether or not he likes rap at all, Gene said he thought it was okay, but conceded: “I don’t have the cultural background to appreciate being a gangster. Of course that’s not what it’s all about, but that’s where it comes from. That’s the heart and soul of it. It came from the streets.”
