Separating the Art From the Artist
By Julia Most
Published November 21st
“Separate the art from the artist” is a saying that has been created in light of celebrities and artists being accused of, or found guilty of, various wrongdoings. It means what it sounds like: don’t connect an artist with the music they produce. Whether or not you choose to separate the art from the artist is a personal decision, and there is no right or wrong answer. For some people, listening to music created by an artist who did something bad might be hard. But others can listen to their music and keep the artist separate from their work. Whether you decide to listen to artists after they make mistakes or do bad things, or stop listening to them, everyone needs to be aware of artists' backgrounds, and at the bare minimum we all have to acknowledge the actions artists have taken.
We all have our favorite artists, favorite albums, favorite songs, or even just favorite music genres. But sometimes we forget that the artist behind our favorite music is a real person;, not just the artist as we see them. Artists need to create an image of themselves to promote their music, often with a stage name, to differentiate their artist identity from their actual one. Do you know who Alex O’Connor is? How about Stefanie Germanotta? Or Belcalis Almanzar? You actually do know them–that’s Rex Orange County, Lady Gaga and Cardi B.
Their income is largely based on how well their music does, how many people buy their albums or stream their songs. For some artists, but not all of them, that can mean covering up things in their past, hiding certain facts from the public, or simply being let off the hook because of the fame they have accumulated. But artists are the same as everyone else; they're human. They say things they shouldn’t, they make mistakes, they do bad things– maybe even illegal things, but they should not be treated any differently when it comes to legal situations and wrongdoings. In fact, I believe artists should be held to a higher standard than the ordinary person, because they have so much attention on them, and their actions will be noticed by lots of people. And for better or for worse, they are often held up as role models.
This leads up to the idea of separating the art from the artist. This statement is often used in broad terms, but I believe it depends on the artist it is referring to, and the individual who is stating this. Everyone has different beliefs and morals, and therefore we all are going to interpret situations differently. Especially with celebrity affairs, we all have different feelings towards the celebrities, and that is going to affect how we choose to react to allegations or their true actions. With recent sexual assault allegations against British singer Rex Orange County and multiple new concerning tweets from celebrity and rap artist Kanye West, this saying has been coming up a lot more, and is causing some controversy over what we should do when situations like these arise.
There is a balancing act we all struggle with in this issue surrounding what to do about celebrities and their actions. While we should not allow celebrities to get away with doing bad things, we also shouldn’t contribute to “cancel culture.” “Cancel culture” is a movement to take away a celebrity's status and fame if they make a mistake or do something bad. The question with this becomes: When does a celebrity artist truly deserve to be canceled or ignored, and when do they deserve to be punished while continuing their career?
I am a huge fan of Rex Orange County’s music. It is on all of my playlists, and I listen to him constantly. So, when I found out about the allegations I was angry. He has been accused of six counts of sexual assault on one woman over the course of two days in June 2021. A representative of O’Connor was quoted speaking on his behalf saying, “Alex is shocked by the allegations, which he denies, and looks forward to clearing his name in court.” She is right. Every person is innocent until proven guilty. These allegations, though very serious if proven true, are still just allegations as of now. O’Connor was released on unconditional bail, and a provisional trial date is set for January 3.
There is nothing wrong with being upset, or feeling betrayed by an artist when allegations such as these come to light. The focus here should not be on O’Connor letting down his fans, but on the potential victim of assault and what these allegations mean for them and for him. There is a lot of victim blaming going on online, and people trying to find ways to excuse these alleged actions because they idolize O’Connor and his music. They look up to him, and they don’t want to believe he could have done such a thing. But this isn’t fair; we can’t excuse a celebrity from their actions just because we like their music. O’Connor is accused of sexual assault, which is a big deal. Everyone doesn’t need to block him on every social media site and remove all of his songs from their playlists, because that would be contributing to “cancel culture,” but if you do choose to continue listening to him, at least be aware of the situation. For some people, these actions might be hard for them to look past in his music. And that is understandable. People will remove his music from their playlists and stop listening to him. However, for some people, assuming they are aware of the allegations, they might be able to separate Rex from his music and will continue listening to him. This is also understandable. It depends on the individual person, and what their comfort level with separating the art and artist is. If you choose to continue listening to Rex Orange County, be conscious of what the allegations could mean about him, because he is connected to his music, and you can’t realistically separate them entirely.
A second example of an artist who has done bad things without much fallout is celebrity, rapper and singer Kanye West. Kanye is widely known for his controversial and sometimes worrisome tweets. He has bipolar disorder, and has been through psychiatric care and it is likely the root of a lot of his outbursts on social media and in real life. Despite his mental illness, posting tweets that promote violence and hatred against minority groups as he has done are not acceptable under any circumstances. Kanye has been using social media to convey his extreme beliefs on topics for years now, and has been openly antisemitic, posted conspiracy theories, and other concerning and possibly dangerous things. Most recently, Kanye is under scrutiny for tweeting that he would go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” The tweet has since been removed and Kanye's account is under suspension, but the tweet was out long enough that it has been reposted and is circulating on social media. Although this is certainly one of the more extreme tweets by Kanye, this type of targeted tweet is not new to him.
Kanye’s popularity has dropped a little bit over the years, but not significantly. He has had four Number One hits, 20 top 10 hits in his career, and currently has over 51 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His controversial statements and recent blatant anti-semitism have barely done anything to lower his popularity if he still has over 50 million people listening to him monthly. This is because while some people view Kanye as an extension of his music, and connect the two, others are able to separate them. The only issue with Kanye’s supporters is that it seems like people are refusing to even admit that he has some issues. Kanye West has said indisputably bad things. There is no excuse for some of the things he has said. Liking his music is fine, but you can’t ignore the person behind the music; you can’t completely separate the art from the artist.
It's hard to stop listening to a favorite artist, and maybe you don’t have to; that's up to you. Either way is understandable. But, as a society, we cannot ignore the flaws, misdeeds and hurtful actions of our celebrities. We need to hold them accountable for things that they do, even more so than we would for the normal person because they hold so much power with so many people idolizing them. If you don’t want to stop listening to artists like Rex Orange County and Kanye, then don’t. But be aware of who the artist is and what they have done, and recognize that while the art is one thing, and the artist is another, there is a connection. How strong that connection is, and what it truly means, is up to each individual to decide.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2022/10/11/singer-rex-orange-county-charged-with-six-counts-of-sexual-assault/
https://www.billboard.com/artist/kanye-west/chart-history/hsi/