A book full of angry black feminist op-eds and rants written by this black girl so keep your misogynoir to yourself ✨
i am not a teacher so please don't ask me teach you or educate you... google is free✨
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by Jasmine
In the era of the #MeToo Movement and childhood heroes being exposed, I've been thinking about who I should and shouldn't support. This internal struggle began when I heard rapper XXXTentacion and his super aggressive music about fighting people and extremely vulgar lyrics that I enjoyed oddly enough. But then I found out about all the horrible charges XXX was facing which included domestic violence and kidnapping. Horrible stories emerged about him beating his pregnant girlfriend and to make matter worse, the Florida rapper joked about the situation. I immediately removed all his music from my library and watched in confusion as his fame grew.
Recently, one of my favorite rappers, Joey Bada$$, dropped a freestyle featuring XXXTentacion and I was torn. Joey is my fave but I vowed to not support anything XXX did. He is not about to get any of my money when he's out here treating women like trash. But I love Joey *insert sad face*. That's when I started to wonder if I can really separate the art from the artist and thought back to Bill Cosby.
As someone who grew up watching reruns of The Cosby Show and spent an entire month binge watching A Different World (I want to marry Dawayne Wayne), I was absolutely distraught when I heard about Bill Cosby's rape allegations but they haven't stopped me from watching The Cosby Show whenever nothing else is on and I think its because I've somehow managed to separate Cliff Huxtable from Bill Cosby. Like how I separated Raven Baxter from Raven Symone when she started her shenanigans. I guess it is much easier to acknowledge positive contributions of a fictional character while also being aware that the creator wasn't a great dude.
With music, on the other hand, I've found it much harder to separate the musician from their music. Part of it has to do with the way streaming is set up and my refusal to allow rapists and abusers, which the industry is full of, unfortunately, make any money off of me. In a way, I feel like listening to their music means I support their actions. But, with that type of thinking, doesn't watching the Cosby Show mean I support Bill Cosby's actions?
I think separating the artist and the art is possible but it's a bad idea. Streaming a pedophile's song or watching a rapist's movie is supporting their behavior and I believe they deserve to be punished for their actions. That means hitting them where it hurts, their pockets. It is clear that Hollywood doesn't care and these people will continue to be employed as long as there is money to be gained.
Therefore, for my own morality and piece of mind, I have decided to not give a dime to any artist with any allegations or track records involving rape and abuse amongst other things. I don't care how talented they are. With that being said, Joey, I love you but I literally cannot.
