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The beef between the KISS frontman and rapper was sparked by comments Gene made suggesting hip hop stars shouldn’t be considered for inclusion in the institution.

At N.w.a.’s induction ceremony on Friday (08Apr16) Cube slammed the rocker for his comments, saying rock and roll was a “spirit” rather than a particular musical style or genre.

After being called out, Gene stood by the comments, writing on Twitter, “let me know when Jimi Hendrix gets into the Hip Hop Hall Of Fame,” causing the hip hop star to issue a social media response citing black musicians as the inventors of rock music.

“Who stole the soul? Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Chubby Checkers help invent Rock n Roll. We invent it. Y’all (white rock musicians) reprint it,” he wrote.

Ice Cube, real name O’Shea Jackson, then posted lines from his Hall of Fame induction speech including its conclusion, “Rock & roll is not conforming to the people who came before you, but creating your own path in music and in life. That is rock & roll, and that is us”.

Despite the new rebuke, Gene refused to concede the point, writing, “Cube – I stand by my words. Respect NWA, but when Led Zep gets into Rap Hall of Fame, I will agree with your point.”

The dispute with N.w.a. is not the first time the Detroit Rock City singer has criticised the rap genre, as last month (Mar16) he told Rolling Stone magazine, “I am looking forward to the death of rap. 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.”

As well as calling out the KISS star for his attitude to hip hop at their induction ceremony, N.w.a. members also paid tribute to their late bandmate Eazy-E, real name Eric Wright, who died in 1995 from an AIDS related illness.
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