Kanye West has released some of my favorite songs and his music is on a lot of my playlists. He has established himself as a star by releasing 11 studio albums, a multitude of collaborations, and other works, and has 51 million monthly listeners on Spotify, making him the 19th most popular artist on the platform. His work in high fashion has also helped his rise in fame, from fashion collections to his brand Yeezy, now known as YZY, a collaboration with German sportswear company Adidas. For the past few years, however, West has spurred numerous controversies due to his increasingly controversial claims spread on social media.
In March, West was banned from performing at the Grammy awards. In April, he was withdrawn from headlining Coachella. In October, it appeared as though the internet had enough when West wore a “White Lives Matter” shirt at Paris Fashion week and then made a number of antisemitic remarks, later doubling down on the rhetoric and aligning himself with white supremacists.
West insinuated that Jewish people control the music industry and darkly referred to going “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” in a now removed tweet on Twitter.
Kanye has also been known to speak out on political issues, often expressing support for controversial figures like Donald Trump. His statements on politics have drawn criticism from many in the industry, with some calling for a boycott of his music.
In response, many brands cut ties with him and denounced his words, including Adidas. After weeks of his erratic behavior and offensive language, the company and the key to his “fashion empire” announced that it would cut ties with him. The move is anticipated to cost the company 250 million euros ($246 million) this year.
With all of that, I wonder if separating the art from the artist is okay or if we should hold artists accountable for their actions.
Some believe works of art are entities in themselves. They should be valued separately from the creator. For others, supporting works of art means supporting its creator and therefore giving the creator’s actions and opinions a platform to have influence on people.
Do we remove the artists’ songs from our playlists? Do we stop wearing their clothing brands? Or do we continue to listen and support them knowing that their beliefs and actions don’t align with our own morals?
Ultimately, I believe it’s okay to separate the art from the artist, as I still enjoy listening to Kanye West’s music, though I don’t support his ideas.
