Sincerely, Saskia

Kanye is not someone I ever want to give my attention to.

I could list a million reasons why at this point, but after the whole ‘slavery was a choice’ debacle, I had zero qualms about shelving his music and pretending like he didn’t exist. I did the same thing with R Kelly and Diddy for obvious reasons because, believe it or not, there is enough music out there in the world that you don’t actually have to support rapists,  domestic abusers, anti-Black, anti-Semitic, hate-driven artists who have caused misery and devastation to so many communities.

In respect to Kanye, his affiliation with Trump alone should have been enough for the world to write him off.

Although I’m sure Kanye has lost fans over his many outbursts and controversial moments in the spotlight, there is still a considerable amount of fans who seemingly endorse this behaviour by defending him online and even trying to justify his mad ramblings – because let’s face it, that’s what they are – simply because they believe he is a musical genius. Kanye’s fan base will act as if he wasn’t just recently accused of sexual assault and scream from the top of their lungs that he is but a misunderstood artist still grieving the death of his mother.

There comes a point when you have to ask yourself what it will take for fans of this ridiculous individual to make them question their unwarranted loyalty to him, and it looks like we may have just found the answer.  

Finally, people are waking up to the fact that his skills as a rapper are no longer a good enough excuse for the amount of hate he spreads online…

Going on another one of his certifiable rants on X – because where else? – Kanye used derogatory language towards the gay community, declared his love for Hitler and – in what seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back – mocked Cassie’s abuse at the hands of Diddy.

I’m sure we all remember last year when the disturbing video of Cassie and Diddy was released, showing him physically abusing her by the elevator of a hotel. The video in question was graphic, extremely hard to watch and had everyone outraged. As much as rumours about Diddy have been rampant in the industry for years, this video was undeniable. Maybe for everyone except Kanye though, as in his rant he went on to promote the sale of the hoodie Cassie wore while Diddy beat her and did, in fact, name it ‘the love hoodie’. Why? Well because, and I unfortunately quote, ‘You have to truly be in love to get to the point of risking everything.’ That was followed by another tweet I wish I hadn’t read that said, ‘SOMETIMES YOUR GREATEST LIABILITY IS THE WOMEN YOU LOVE’.

Anyone else just throw up in their mouth or is it just me? This man has daughters.

Suddenly, after years of justification as we watched him peddle ‘white lives matter’, spew misogynistic comments, go on hate-fuelled rants about Jewish people and show overt displays of support for Trump  –  a man who has spent his first two weeks as president trying to destroy the lives of trans people and immigrants – his fans have decided this is where they draw the line. I guess it’s better late than never. Finally, people are waking up to the fact that his skills as a rapper are no longer a good enough excuse for the amount of hate he spreads online and fans are publicly turning their back on him.

“Can’t defend this man anymore.”

“This is going to[o] far, he really loves getting himself cancelled init.”

“Oh this is where I draw the line.”

“This ain’t love bruh. But congrats on exposing yourself. Now we all know how you treat Bianca.”

As confused as I am as to why it took some people this long, I’m hoping this starts a conversation about how the quality of someone’s art should not be justification for the continued support of said artist. The debate surrounding separating the art from the artist has merit, but we have to draw the line somewhere and context is so important. Kanye is, to some, a living and breathing ‘legend’ with massive influence and an even bigger platform – not only in music but fashion too. And yet, he uses this abundance of fame to defend an accused serial rapist and advocate for his release, spread hate and misinformation and to deny the history of his own people.

When Timbaland said we can’t deny all R Kelly has done for music and that we shouldn’t ’mix music up with personal’, my blood boiled. As much as there are things that this would absolutely apply to, R Kelly is a man who wrote You Are Not Alone (performed by Michael Jackson) about the miscarriage of an underage girl he impregnated. Still think it’s ok to give him his flowers and to separate the art from the artist?

Not unsurprisingly, there were still people in the comments who decided to protest, ‘this isn’t Kanye.’ Whether they’re insinuating he was hacked or that he’s in the middle of a mental episode, someone needs to take this man’s platform away from him and fans need to remember that endorsing someone like him makes you complicit. As long as he has people willing to publicly declare their support for the stuff he says, he won’t ever stop saying it.

Did I mention his rant is still going on?