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AllHipHop.com: How do you feel that your dimension of theatrics really compares today with rappers and the way that they present themselves?
Gene Simmons: Well, rap came along at a time when Rock became stale, and that's good. But rap better figure out something new, because the next group of guys who say "Wassup" is not gonna be original enough. Very soon that clock will stop ticking, and it's gonna have to move to that next step, or something else will come and push it out of the way as well. Also I'd like to hear a rapper who can really speak English exceedingly well, somebody who can pronounce every single word, doesn't make up his own language and just is a breath of fresh air. Someone who comes in with a suit and tie and really comes off as well dressed [and] well educated just to be different.
AllHipHop.com: Well Jay-Z did that actually…
Gene Simmons: Actually no, that's not Harvard. I'm talking about somebody who can cross-collateralize and fiduciary duty along with the best of them, who can speak White language better than the White man and do it to music. The reason I'm saying that is just to be different, because if I'm gonna be exactly the same then every single person, including White people, are gonna say, "Yo wassup, my hood, my gang." It's a cliché on top of a cliché, so the next guy that wants to come along and make a difference, be different. When I heard Sean Paul I immediately picked up my ears because I heard Jamaican, I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I didn't care because it was different. He didn't say "Wassup."
Gene Simmons: Well, rap came along at a time when Rock became stale, and that's good. But rap better figure out something new, because the next group of guys who say "Wassup" is not gonna be original enough. Very soon that clock will stop ticking, and it's gonna have to move to that next step, or something else will come and push it out of the way as well. Also I'd like to hear a rapper who can really speak English exceedingly well, somebody who can pronounce every single word, doesn't make up his own language and just is a breath of fresh air. Someone who comes in with a suit and tie and really comes off as well dressed [and] well educated just to be different.
AllHipHop.com: Well Jay-Z did that actually…
Gene Simmons: Actually no, that's not Harvard. I'm talking about somebody who can cross-collateralize and fiduciary duty along with the best of them, who can speak White language better than the White man and do it to music. The reason I'm saying that is just to be different, because if I'm gonna be exactly the same then every single person, including White people, are gonna say, "Yo wassup, my hood, my gang." It's a cliché on top of a cliché, so the next guy that wants to come along and make a difference, be different. When I heard Sean Paul I immediately picked up my ears because I heard Jamaican, I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I didn't care because it was different. He didn't say "Wassup."