In the wake of recent problematic events regarding some of the most popular musicians, this question has been asked many times: is it possible to separate the art from the artist? While some argue that music is inherently intertwined with the person creating it, others believe we can appreciate music without supporting its creator. So, which side is correct?
Kanye West, one of the most influential artists of our time, may also be one of the most problematic. In 2018, the rapper stated that slavery “seemed like a choice.” In 2022, he was seen wearing a “white lives matter” t-shirt. A few weeks later, he posted a plethora of anti-Semitic tweets and threats towards Jewish people, which got his account banned. Soon after that, an interview with Tucker Carlson was released, which showed West spewing more hate speech about Jews. However, he was seemingly held accountable for his actions as after this interview, many brands, such as Adidas, quit working with him, supposedly costing him over $1 billion in brand deals.
However, a few months later, West was invited onto conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s “Infowars” podcast. In this podcast, he praised Adolf Hitler, ranted about conspiracy theories involving Jewish people, and spread more hateful messages. Yet, many seemed to forget about all of this within a couple of months. He released more music, which people happily consumed, and it was as if he was never problematic to begin with.
On Feb. 9, 2025, he ran a Super Bowl advertisement that directed viewers to yeezy.com. The only item for sale on this website was a plain T-shirt with a swastika on the front. Of course, he followed this with another tweeting spree with more conspiracies about Jewish people, sexist comments, and praise for Hitler.
With all of this, most artists’ careers would be over, there would be no recovering from these comments. Yet, despite everything that he has done, West’s career is thriving with multiple top hits and a recent Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song. For this reason, some consider him to be “uncancelable.”
One explanation for this is that West has openly stated that he suffers from Bipolar Disorder, so people use this to justify his behavior. However, many people suffer from similar mental illnesses but aren’t anti-Semitic, so this argument is illogical. Another explanation is that he’s said and acted in so many outrageous ways that people see him as more of a character than a real person. Thus, it’s more entertaining rather than concerning when he posts more nonsensical, problematic tweets. Finally, probably the most common argument is that “he made ‘Graduation’”. He’s one of the most acclaimed rappers of all time, with some objectively great albums, so it’s understandable that people don’t want to stop listening to his work. Many believe that they are listening to the music he makes without believing in the things he says. However, it’s important to know that what you are consuming has an impact.
On Spotify, artists usually make $.004 per stream. West, with over 44,138,100,609 streams, has made more than $176,552,402. Again, this is just through Spotify streams, so it does not include record sales, merch, concert tickets, other streaming platforms, etc. His Super Bowl ad, which directed viewers to his website where the swastika t-shirt was for sale, likely cost him around $8 million to air. Moreover, creating the t-shirts would have cost him a lot. Therefore, it can be argued that your streams funded this. If the music you’re listening to is funding the spread of hate, can you really separate the art from the artist?
Of course, this discussion is nuanced and open to personal interpretation, but it’s important to be aware of the impact of the media you’re consuming. If what you’re listening to is funding someone who’s openly supporting Hitler and shirts with symbols of hate, maybe it’s not worth it.
