A lot of the time we find ourselves immersed in our favourite artists’ lives, interests and beliefs. We gravitate towards their music because it matches our beliefs. I’d imagine Kendrick Lamar lost a lot of his conservative audience when he released his blatantly pro-black “To Pimp a Butterfly” album; the album sonically slapped harder than an Apartheid police officer at an illegal ANC gathering. But can Sergeant Van Der Merwe still just enjoy the sonic bliss from such records? Can he separate the art from the artist and the artist’s message?
The internet has blessed audiences around the world with the ability to discover artists from all over the far reaches of the globe, from the streaming site playlist plugs to even hearing an unexplored feature kill a verse on your fav’s album, we know or heard [about] a lot of artists thanks to the interwebs. We sometimes ignore the music and enjoy their social media presence but whatever we decide to invest our time in, we are still aware of their existence. It is mostly the artists who decide how much they choose to reveal to us, Daft Punk are not known for mixing their personal life with their music and on the other side of the spectrum Mac Miller laid his failures and victories bare for the world to hear in his discography. We, as the audience, are faced with the choice to dig deeper and learn more of the life beyond the voice or simply be ignorant, sometimes we grab that opportunity to know more and in some other cases we just keep it at surface level.
A deeper look into the lives of our favourite artists can reveal deep trauma, drug addiction or views which completely contradict our own beliefs, what do we do then? Just take a look at your music library, where do those people stand on racial issues? What are their views on abortion? Do they call women bitches because the bitches love it [that’s a Drake line for you uncultured heathens]? What are their views on feminism? Of course some match our beliefs but do we simply delete the catalogue of those who don’t believe in what we believe? In the current climate of cancelling, do we simply just cancel such artists’ art out of our lives, or do we view the art for what it is, an opinion?
Officer Van Der Merwe may not like Kendrick’s underlying messages of black empowerment but he can surely relate to the matters of self-love Kendrick also preaches. The officer needs to realise firstly that “To Pimp A Butterfly” might just slap harder than him and that artists are humans who also hold opinions that may differ to our own, some even expressed through the music, but it is us who decide which ones have an impact on our lives. It’s up to you to decide if you hold Kanye West’s views on politics in high regard. Artists have been blessed with willing listeners through their field of expertise and it is their responsibility to use that platform wisely. Let’s not forget the responsibility we have as the consumers of the craft, we also have to take a deep look at ourselves if we get touched by the opinions made by artists who may not be experts in certain subject matters.