Keith Richards criticises rap music: “I don’t like to hear people yelling at me”

Keith Richard of The Rolling Stones

Keith Richards has explained that he isn’t a fan of rap music because he doesn’t enjoy “people yelling at me”.

The Rolling Stones guitarist was speaking about the music he listens to in an interview with The Telegraph ahead of the release of the band’s forthcoming album ‘Hackney Diamonds’.

In the interview, he mentioned that he listens to a wide variety of musical genres, including blues, jazz and classical, but dislikes pop and rap.

“I don’t want to start complaining about pop music,” he said. “It’s always been rubbish. I mean, that’s the point of it. They make it as cheap and as easy as possible and therefore it always sounds the same; there’s very little feel in it.”

Richards continued: “I like to hear music by people playing instruments. That is, I don’t like to hear plastic synthesised muzak, as it used to be known, what you hear in ­elevators, which is now the par for the course.”

On the subject of rap music, he added: “I don’t really like to hear people yelling at me and telling me it’s music, aka rap. I can get enough of that without ­leaving my house.”

Ronnie Wood, Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards attend the launch event for The Rolling Stones' new album "Hackney Diamonds" at the Hackney Empire on September 06, 2023
Ronnie Wood, Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards attend the launch event for The Rolling Stones’ new album “Hackney Diamonds” at the Hackney Empire on September 6, 2023. CREDIT: David M. Benett/Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images

In other Stones news, frontman Mick Jagger has reminisced about his “close friend” Charlie Watts in a new interview.

Speaking to SiriusXM, Jagger remembered his long-term bandmate and friend Watts, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 80.

Jagger said: “I knew him since I was 19, and I hung out a lot with Charlie. He was one of my close friends.”

It was recently revealed that ‘Hackney Diamonds’ will feature two songs that they recorded with Charlie Watts. The other songs feature Steve Jordan behind the kit, who Jagger had said was Watts’ recommendation “for if anything should happen to him”.

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