Kanye West’s latest album was supposed to drop this past Saturday. But, of course, it was not released on the anticipated day. Considering I was in a Yandhi-filled mindset, a thought crept into my head: Should I even listen to his album in the first place?
Kanye’s most recent claim to problematic fame came in April when he said slavery sounded like a choice. After backlash, he apologized. Some may say his apology does not merit our forgiveness. Some may say Ye is a rap genius and no amount of nonsense should stop us from listening to him. I find myself somewhere in the middle. Forgiving and forgetting is not the answer, but neither is complete banishment from my playlists.
On one hand, Kanye should not be forgiven. Kanye's view, dumb and lacking logic, cannot be forgotten. We know slavery was not a choice, so we know Kanye’s thought process took a wrong, dark, twisted turn. Writing it off cannot be done. He said what he said, and although he apologized, his thinking reveals something about himself, which should not be disregarded.
Yet, a line needs to be drawn somewhere. Some artists simply should not be listened to. Tekashi69 was charged with three felony counts of using a child in a sexual performance. Artists like Tekashi69, R. Kelly or even XXXTentacion who all have severe allegations against them should not be praised for their music. In these cases, the misconduct is so bad the art cannot be separated from the artist.
But this makes the Kanye conundrum even more difficult. Supposedly, Ye’s new album features songs with Tekashi69 and XXXTentacion. Should I not listen to the entire album? I could skip the songs with the artist I can’t stand, but doesn’t streaming any part of the album put money into their pockets?
This moral dilemma is one that makes me glad Kanye’s album has not been released yet. Honestly, I might just not listen to the new album. It’s not because Kanye’s political views do not align with my own, it’s because he works with artists I refuse to show any sign of support to.
I will support the old Kanye, the straight-to-the-point Kanye. His old songs will hold a special place on my playlists. But this new Ye creates a moral dilemma for us all, one that forces us to decide up until what point will we stand for an artist, especially an artist with such a great discography. (This problem would be a lot easier if historically his music was bad. If that were the case, I just wouldn’t listen to his music.)
No matter how many times he says otherwise, Kanye is a human. Humans sometimes say nonsense, and it is our societal duty to decide when it is worth it to us to accept them or not. As an audience, we have the power to align ourselves with artists or not. In a sense, we sign their checks. If we stop listening, they stop getting paid. The audience’s power keeps artists accountable.
So if the new Kanye album ever does drop, take that accountability into consideration. Your streams matter. You get to choose if you want to validate an artist or not. I am not calling for a mass Kanye boycott, but rather for listeners to understand how much power they hold in these situations. Listen to the new album or don’t — just know your choice is more powerful than you may think.
Jackie DeFreitas is a UF journalism junior. Her column appears on Fridays.
