As we all know nobody is perfect, especially the music artists we all love so much. The truth is that several artists have done or said things that may have the average person in jail or losing jobs. With that being said, should listeners separate the music from the artist?

 Oakmont music teacher/ band director Mr. Kris DeMoura believes that you should separate the art from the artist as the art is more important. This has happened throughout history with some of the bigger controversies coming from the 60s and 70s. When DeMoura spoke on this he said, “And as the 1960’s and 70’s go there were great artists who may have done things I don’t believe in and don’t support, but still created great music so I try to separate the fact that they may have been addicted to drugs, but it might’ve also made them more creative in their music.”

To further analyze this, a perfect modern example would be artist Kanye West. Kanye, now known as Ye, was once on top of the music world, being labeled as one of the best and most influential artists of the 2000s. His numbers upon each drop were astonishing and his lyrics grabbed the attention of many, gaining lots of love. However, if you know anything about Ye you would know this was unfortunately the beginning of a slippery slope for the star.

Ye first began his music career in 2004 debuting an album called “The College Dropout”. He quickly gained lots of popularity from the song “Slow Jamz” with Jamie Fox which peaked at number 1 in the Billboard Hot 100.

From there, it was only up from the young star, every time he dropped he continued to gain the love from so many who heard his music. As his popularity grew, it seemed his music was getting better, dropping classics almost every year for 5 years straight. Throughout those years, however, Ye lost his mother in November of 2007. 

At the time it seemed it hadn’t fully impacted him. For the years after her death, it seemed everything was still going to be okay for the star, and he would continue to make influential and passionate music for all to listen to. Oakmont sophomore Jace Lemay shared his thoughts on Ye saying, “The production of his songs is phenomenal. The songs with Mike Dean producing with Ye are some of the best beats in my opinion. I also love the way Kanye is able to draw you in with these beats and keep things interesting.”

 It wasn’t until 2013 he signed his infamous deal with Adidas which went on to make him a billionaire. The star would continue to inspire a whole new wave of music through his beats and passion until the pandemic came. During the COVID-19 pandemic Ye lost his wife in a divorce that seemingly ruined him and was the topic that everyone was talking about.

That was until the fall came; in the months of October and November the beloved star began to slip. In the months mentioned Ye went on to, “double down on his comments on Instagram and later took to Twitter to use antisemitic rhetoric in his posts, then continued to amplify his hate speech in interviews.” (stated by the Billboard Hot 100) This would prove to be the beginning of the end for the next couple of years for the star tarnishing his name and losing all of his brand deals.

Most people thought that was it for the former star, he had lost it all it seemed: family, brand deals, and millions of dollars. He was being removed from all radio stations earning nothing from radio play. 

People then tried to “cancel” Ye for his remarks trying to get people to stop listening to him. However, it seemed that his true fans didn’t care and still loved the music he created prior.

His numbers decreased staggeringly during the week of the incident, but the rest of his fans were still listening to him, separating the person he was presenting himself as and the music they fell in love with. 

That was until Ye dropped Vultures 1 and 2 this year earning some of the love lost from those who stopped listening to him after the incidents. From that he earned many new followers and has since been back on top of many music charts.

Although, with that the philosophical question for listeners becomes. Should you separate the art from the artist? Some people say you should, while others say you shouldn’t. One important factor to remember is the fact that music is not always a direct image of the person we see.

Anthony Fidler, a junior at Oakmont shared his thoughts stating, “I think fully we should separate the art from the artists, as the art that a person makes doesn’t always represent that person as a person.”

Most of us do not know these artists personally, so their music is for our interpretation and it’s about how we will take it. An author from Rolling Stone stated it perfectly when they wrote, “I believe that art is made by its audience’s perception and interpretation. It is the audience who impose the art’s meaning and merit. The creator of the art is detached from it the moment the figurative pen lid clicks shut.”

Another thing to keep in mind is that unless an artist is directly projecting the person who they are into all of their music then the person they are and their music should be separated. An artist could sing/rap about anything they want and that may not always have a direct correlation to their real personality.

Artists rarely go around telling everyone how they should listen to their music and oftentimes keep things hidden from the public making their music have a deeper meaning. In addition, we also can usually see the intentions of music and how artists are trying to reach an audience whether it’s about a certain story they are telling or a certain person.

Although it is understandable for people to not want to listen to someone because you are directly supporting them. As Oakmont junior Nick Hill stated, “I can understand that people might feel guilt about listening to an artist who’s done bad things because by streaming their music you’re directly supporting them.”

The good news is that your streams don’t matter as much as you may think. For each single stream on Spotify an artist will only earn $0.003-$0.005. Which, yes, those streams add up, but you are not giving them nearly as much as you think. For every million streams artists will make $1,000-$8,000,  which yes is a lot of money, but your single time listening to them doesn’t even really affect them.

Another reason for the separation of music and artists is that music inspires more than the artist themselves. Music made in the United States can affect and allow people in different countries to begin to chase something they never thought they would be able to do.

When hearing this music it could be something to inspire the youth or to even just let people know they are not alone in difficult times. This music can inspire others to go out and do things they never thought they would be able to do. It can also uplift those who think they are alone in their struggles, but when you then hear an artist singing about a hardship you might share it builds a connection with that song.

Ye unfortunately is not the only artist who had controversy surrounding them towards the end of their career. As many know Michael Jackson created amazing music which most would agree with. Early in the young musician’s career he was making hit after hit setting new standards in the music industry. He first went number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972 when he was 14 years old. Jackson would then go on to seize the number 1 spot with 12 different songs being labeled by some as the “King of pop”.

Jackson continued on this trend until the end of his career winning awards and snatching the attention of many listeners. Jackson won an impressive 13 grammy’s along with 30 other major awards to top off his 30 year career in the music industry.

However, as the trend tends to go with many artists, controversy arose for Micheal. Towards the end of his career many allegations came out in rapid fire fashion: Jackson was sexually abusing minors. Although all of these charges were dropped, listeners were still left with an uneasy feeling about these accusations.

Another Oakmont sophomore Sonny Dellasanta commented, “I honestly really enjoy MJ’s (Michael Jackson) music, and honestly don’t think he did anything wrong, I think that he was a person who was hurt as a kid and I don’t believe he would do that.” Dellasanta mentioned a valid point referring to the allegations that were first brought about him being sexually abused, and although there is no way to prove that if it indeed something that occurred why would he ever do something like that to anyone else.

Then it was found in 2004 that Jackson had reportedly paid off some of his accusers, while still denying that he ever did anything wrong. NPR music even went on to write an article on these allegations writing, “She claims that their mother, Katherine Jackson, has shown her checks that Michael allegedly made out to the families of some very young boys, at least one allegedly as young as nine years old.”

It is important to note, none of these allegations were ever proven; as far as legally, Jackson was never guilty of such things. Whether true or not, Jackson’s reputation was tarnished. He was ridiculed by much of the public, but his music has left a lasting impression. 

DeMoura points out a fact to keep in mind saying, “Though they were allegations he paid people off – which makes me believe he was guilty of those charges – the artist behind that created great music beforehand.”