Ye, should we separate your art from you?

Kanye West is a rapper, songwriter, producer, and designer; essentially, he’s one of the most accomplished artists of this generation. He has an ego to compete with his fame and an influence that affects millions of fans, a group that bands together to have an almost cult-like quality to them.

Recently, however, Kanye’s…unorthodox stances have brought him in conflict with what seems like the whole world, whether it be the media that used to love him, the corporate world, or most painfully of all, his own wife (now ex-wife Kim Kardashian). Why you might ask? It included a bit of this…

The tweet that caused the chain reaction

…which could be casually summarised to be a series of anti-semitic comments and rants on social media but had an impact that could be described by any word but casual. This comes after he wore and released a ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt and attributed George Floyd’s death to a fentanyl overdose, instead of a police officer placing his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost 9 minutes. Just when you think Kanye’s done, he is, very apparently, not.

I wonder if there is anything I can say about this man that hasn’t already been said.
Kanye West is a genius, but he’s crazy.
He’s just acting out because Kim left him.
And the most apparent thing,

Ye is canceled.

Is it possible to cancel a megastar of Ye’s stature? We weren’t able to with Trump, clearly. Mr. ‘Grab ’em by the pussy’ recently announced his 2024 run for presidency when he is currently under investigation for removal of classified documents from the White House and is likely to be charged, yet his fan base adores him. Ye’s fan base, on the other hand, is a complicated conundrum- the fans who support Ye still exist, one forum discussing “is this the end for ye?” contains speculations from fans that Ye will still be able to survive this attempt at cancellation. However, some fans have decided to draw the line. Case in point: a fan that goes by ProdbyZAQQ on social media who used to comment “Ye da [G.O.A.T.] no [cap]” under every single post of Ye’s, who recently decided to dissociate from Ye by tweeting: “This is just insane. Bro wtf. I can’t stand this shit at all, this world got too much hate already.”

If Ye’s super fans have distanced themselves from him, what right do I have to continue to listen to him, and yes, somewhere deep inside, still think that he’s a misunderstood genius? The evidence points to the contrary i.e., stop supporting him.

The reason Ye’s publicized bigotry is so harmful is seen in the impact of his influence. Immediately after his anti-semitic comments, an anti-semitic hate group hung up a poster over Interstate 405 in Southern California saying, “Kanye is right about the Jews.” His antisemitism did what his anti-blackness couldn’t do- make the white executives who head the companies he works with react. Adidas recently terminated its Yeezy partnership with Ye (possibly its most lucrative business venture); Balenciaga and Gap followed suit.

The banner hung over Interstate 405 (Taken from CNN)

Kanye has a history of anti-blackness, having stated: “slavery is a choice” and “racism is a dated concept” previously. But what happens when a black person makes anti-black statements? Black hardship tends to go overlooked in culture, especially if a black person is instigating it, so people go, “What can you do?” and shrug it off.

And that’s the ultimate question, isn’t it? Do we shake it off? I continue to listen to him, thereby still supporting him. I’m sure many of you do too, so I ask you again– is canceling Ye even possible? There has been a lot of discourse about how canceling someone is a myth and I agree. When you are a megastar, actions don’t seem to have consequences, because you’re still a millionaire or a billionaire– but that brings us to the question, are the financial consequences the only ones that matter? He has lost control of his personal life– his wife divorced him, and he doesn’t have custody of his kids.

Sometimes, money isn’t all that matters.

As Kanye’s 21 Grammy awards sit on a shelf, tied for the most-decorated hip-hop artist alongside Jay-Z, we continue to be entertained by his antics, some of us consciously choosing to dissociate from the artist. In my opinion, those of us who decide to dissociate his art from his politics hold a privileged position. What gives one the right to just not consider someone’s politics? It’s a slippery slope from there to actually supporting an artist, and dare I say, enabling them.

So I ask you the question posed at the beginning of it all, do we separate the art from the artist? To answer would be to incite controversy, so I won’t.

The answer lies in your hands.

Article by Anoushka Ghosh

Photos are taken from various sources (mentioned in the caption of images)