Music can take us on a very personal journey and often leads us to feel a personal connection to our favorite artists. It’s heartbreaking to hear that your favorite singer has done something so terrible and so out of character, but is it really out of character , or it’s inconsistent with the idea of them that the media (and their labels) try to emphasize?
Disappointment with our favorite creators seems to be more common than ever. Earlier this fall, news broke of Try Guys Ned Fulmer pursuing an extramarital affair with an employee. This came as a shock to fans as Fulmer has well-established his personality as the “wife guy.” The Try Guys responded swiftly by parting ways with Ned and renouncing his actions. Fans were eager to support this decision, sharing heartfelt condolences with the remaining three as well as with Ned’s wife, Ariel.
In the music industry, we do not often see this response, from management companies or fans. Kanye West has long been a problematic figure and it is no secret that he has been struggling with mental health issues for a very long time and now a very public separation from his wife, Kim Kardashian. Just recently, he took to Twitter to call for “death con 3 on Jewish people,” which did resultantly cause him to be banned from the platform. Despite all of his controversies, which range in severity from infamously interrupting Taylor Swift’s VMA acceptance speech to making openly anti-semitic threats on the Internet, he still has a strong music career and fan base. His most recent album, Donda, went platinum this past March, meaning it sold over one million copies.
Kanye’s actions are, of course, inexcusable, but unfortunately not so surprising. When news broke in early October that singer-songwriter Alexander O’Conner, better known as Rex Orange County, is facing charges on six accounts of sexual assault, the Internet all but exploded. Rex Orange County had previously built his reputation around promoting positivity and kindness, but his actions are anything but. His fanbase, consisting primarily of teenage girls, was very vocal in their shock and feelings of betrayal. But of course, the victim is the most hurt by this situation, and we should recognize that above all else, despite how disappointed we may feel as fans.
Some may argue that we can separate the art from the artists and continue to stream their music without feeling conflicted, but I am not so sure that is true. Suppose we continue to listen to music by artists like Rex Orange County and Kanye West. In that case, it gives off the idea that their actions are okay because they make good music and we are enabling them to continue their wrongful behavior. Furthermore, as we continue to stream their songs, we continue to fill their pockets through royalties. When consuming music, we must all decide what’s more important to us: a good song or a good person.