“Good art, bad people.” That’s the title of an article written by The New York Times in 2012. The idea that bad people can create beautiful things is nothing new. Caravaggio, whose art has hung in the Louvre and the MoMA in New York, killed a man. Pablo Picasso has often been called a bully and misogynist, even saying that “Women are machines for suffering,” and “For me there are only two kinds of women — goddesses and doormats.” But while these actions shouldn’t be overlooked or ignored, it is much easier to separate an artist from their art when they have been dead for decades.
In the past couple of weeks, Lifetime released a six-episode series called Surviving R.Kelly, which detailed sexual harassment and abuse allegations against the R&B singer R.Kelly.The documentary series was met by former collaborators, celebrities and fans condemning the artist and his actions. It was also met with a spike in music streams for the artist. So can we still enjoy R.Kelly’s music while knowing the terrible things that he has done?
The allegations against R.Kelly are so immense and intolerable that not listening to R.Kelly’s music may seem like an obvious decision. But for over two decades, R.Kelly’s wrongdoings have been talked about. From his marriage to Aaliyah at age 15, when he was 27, to being sued by Tiffany Hawkins for “personal injuries and emotional distress” during a three-year relationship when she was 15 and he was 24, to being charged with over 21 counts of producing child pornography, no sensible person could believe that R.Kelly was a good person. Nonetheless, R.Kelly’s iconic songs, such as “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition,” continued to be played across the world by radio stations, cover bands, wedding DJs, church gospels and many others. Does this mean that we will only condemn an artist’s work if there is a six-hour documentary made about their wrongdoings?
For anyone to believe that they can be a fan of an artist’s work, while also disagreeing with their actions (and in some cases opinions), is a selfish and ignorant idea. You cannot separate an artist from their work because by supporting their work you are indirectly giving them a platform and power to further spread their ideas.
A more difficult dilemma is when an artist says things and supports things that you may not agree with, which is something many Kanye West fans have struggled with lately. In May of 2018, Kanye came under fire for saying “When you hear about slavery for 400 years . . . For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.” In addition to these comments, Kanye has been a supporter of Donald Trump, tweeting on New Year’s day “Trump all day” and that he was performing with his MAGA hat from now on. An abundance of people came out against Kanye, saying that he was crazy and ignorant, but he still managed to have the 50th, 140th and 143rd most listened to albums in 2018, according to Billboard. That means that even with Kanye’s comments, his critics are still listening to his music.
I’m not here to say that you can’t listen to Kanye’s music because he supports a president that many people disagree with, but with that being said, you need to accept that you are giving Kanye the platform to say these things. It is hypocritical to listen to Kanye’s songs and then be upset when he tweets his support for Trump. By streaming his songs, you are putting money in his pocket, you are keeping him relevant and you are making it so he has a platform to say these things.
During the #MeToo movement, executives, actors, and comedians such as Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey were subject to career-ending allegations. Artists, as well as many athletes, seem to be more immune to this. While it may be easy to tweet your disagreement with Kanye, it isn’t as easy to resist listening to his album when it comes out. It’s easy to protest executives or actors who are just fired and not heard from again, but we make excuses for artists because we still want to enjoy their craft. It isn’t about separating the art from the artist— it’s about justifying our selfishness and hypocrisy.
It is unreasonable to believe that we must do background research on an artist, and agree with their beliefs and actions, before enjoying any work that they have done. Am I ever going to watch a movie with an actor who has done bad things? Most likely. Will I listen to a Kanye song again even though I don’t agree with his opinions? Yes. But when I do, I have to realize that my actions don’t occur in a vacuum — and yours don’t, either.
