We have all heard stories about the terrible things that today's celebrities have done, said, or been involved in, but can we ignore this because they are great artists? By Tendai "Kanye West - Kanye Omari West" by Peter Hutchins is licensed under CC BY 2.0 . Let's take Kanye West as a prime example. One of the most famous artists in history. With 24 Grammy awards and over 160 million records sold, he as an artist has a significant influence on global culture. People listen to what he has to say through his music every day, but is it ok to do so? In 2022 he wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt to a public event. Later that year he posted a tweet saying “Death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE”, and a few years ago he publicly said “racism is a dated concept.” However, he recently released a new album, and in under a week, he surpassed Taylor Swift, becoming Spotify's No. 1 artist. It's not as if all of the things he has said and done outside of his lyrics are unknown. His ideologies are extremely well known as a result of hundreds of viral clips, tweets, and articles written about him. But we still choose to listen to his art. Michael Jackson, considered to be one of the most popular and groundbreaking musicians in history is another example of this. However, his situation is different considering that while Kanye is still making music today, he is not. He faced charges of child sexual abuse in 2007 and further proof was only released after his death in 2009. A documentary was released in 2019 called Leaving Neverland where Wade Robson and James Safechuck, accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them as children starting from ages seven and ten respectively. In fact, their lawsuit against Jackson has recently been revived in California courts. Despite the rumors and alleged evidence that Jackson was a child molester, however, his brand continued to thrive after his death. This issue comes down to personal opinion and morals. Some argue that if he were still alive today, they would not listen to his music due to the fact that he abused children. However, because he is dead, they technically aren't supporting him in any way but rather his “brand" as a seminal musical artist. If we circle back to active artists such as Kanye West, what does listening to his music actually do? For every individual time someone listens to one of his songs on Spotify alone he makes $0.00437. When we multiply this by the billions of streams he receives on this platform alone, he is making around $3,747,643 per year. Every time your fingertips tap on his play button on Spotify, you are actively making him richer. But why does this matter? Many may think Kanye is outrageous for having the confidence to say what he says, knowing that the whole world will see/hear it. However, considering that he has over forty billion streams on Spotify, his confidence must be through the roof. The more money he makes, the more compelled he presumably feels to continue his provocative behavior. Many people's immediate opinion on this debate is that if the artist isn't doing something that directly affects them, then why should they care what they say or do? What Kanye preaches cannot be ignored completely, though. The antisemitism, racism, and extreme ideas have to be recognized. As recently as a few years ago, he was seriously considering running for and becoming the next president of the U.S. But so what? Who cares what he says, thinks, and does? Well, we can all remember what happened when people didn't take another celebrity - DonaldTrump - seriously. Although we cannot fully compare the two, Kanye is an extremely powerful man, with extremely controversial and divisive ideologies. The name “Kanye” has almost become its own brand. It is so recognizable to the extent that we begin to feel an almost personal connection to him when we call him by his first name. Arguably, he has created this massive family of followers and fans who themselves don't notice what they truly stand for. Photo by Mathew Browne on Unsplash Kanye, and Jackson, although they are different people, can provoke similar arguments about them. But we can't just stay within the barriers of specific artists. Instead, we have to zoom out to the bigger picture: can we separate the artist from the art?
We can argue that we can never part the two because the more we listen, the more encouragement we give them for their behavior. However, we can also argue that if a person's music itself doesn't specifically encourage and show who they are outside of it, it's ok. Because music can have create a real connection with people; it can change people, and what an artist does outside of their music doesn’t matter. The question is, is there ever no connection between an artist and their art, or do we blindly get pulled into a feeling of connection with and come under the spell of someone who could be a human being with problematic morals? Can we really separate the two? We can yet again argue that in today's generation, people just don't care. I could take myself as an example. I listen to probably over 20 songs where I have no idea what they are saying. However, I love the way they sound. What if they are saying something horrific? I would never know, but it could slowly normalize whatever horrible idea is being spread. I could also say that I love to listen to Kanye, but at the same time I deeply hate anti-semitism, inequality, and racism. Does that make sense? Is it a paradox? If you are going to listen to Kanye, you must be self-aware and understand that you are part of the problem. We can't claim to support equality and still listen to Kanye, without understanding the impact we might be having. This doesn't just apply to Kanye, but all situations like these. Ultimately, it's not about separating the artist from the art but being self-aware of your actions and understanding who you support, indirectly or not.
1 Comment
Terry
15/3/2024 20:35:56
Tendai this is such an important question to deal with. I think about this a lot with different authors- some of whom have books I love, but then later it emerged that the author had some pretty appalling beliefs. I love the way you frame your argument- and I admire you for taking a stand on the issue. Great piece.
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