Keith Richards calls rap fans 'tone deaf,' Metallica a joke

Keith Richards, not a fan of rap
(Image credit: Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

If you drew a Venn diagram with one circle being rap fans and the other Rolling Stones partisans, the group in the overlapping oval will probably be pretty conflicted over Keith Richards' new interview with the New York Daily News. "Rap — so many words, so little said," Richards told the Daily News' Jim Farber. "What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there... All they need is a drumbeat and somebody yelling over it and they're happy. There's an enormous market for people who can't tell one note from another."

Richards, 71, was just getting started. "Millions are in love with Metallica and Black Sabbath," he said. "I just thought they were great jokes." He went on to say he stopped appreciating the Beatles in 1967, considers bandmate Mick Jagger a snob ("your friends don't have to be perfect," he added), and thinks most other rock guitarists are egotists who play too much without enough taste. For more of Richards' thoughts on the world, his upcoming (reluctant) solo album, and his drug of choice these days, read the interview at the Daily News.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.