CANCELED!!!!
You hear that word a lot when someone you enjoyed or supported in the past says or does something problematic like this.
Kanye just dropped an album called “YE,” and by all accounts, it is doing very well on the streaming services proving that Kanye hasn’t indeed be canceled.
I thought R Kelly had something really interesting (and disturbing) about TIMES UP and MUTE R Kelly trying to cancel him.
While it is pretty disgusting to hear R Kelly acknowledge he has been doing suspect things for 30 years, he isn’t lying. His streaming numbers have gone up since they have tried to mute him. Most people had known R Kelly was creep even when he was dropping #1 albums and singles, but that didn’t stop them stepping in the name of love and saying after the party there is the after party. While not as serious as Kelly something like Drake and Pusha T has no effect on what people listen to. Drake’s feelings might be hurt, and we got some good MEMES out of this beef, but the reality is Drake still has the #1 and #3 songs on the Billboard Charts, and Pusha T is nowhere to be found on the charts.
Some people are upset the people they want to be canceled aren’t indeed being canceled.
Kanye's visit to Trump Tower, his MAGA hat, "slavery was a choice," his "reclaiming of the Confederate flag" to sell merch, his disrespect of Rhymefest & Donnie…..
Y'all let all that go. For an album released in the middle of nowhere. I don't ever want to be that kind of Stan.
— April is in DC (@ReignOfApril) June 1, 2018
Before I say anything else, there are two major points that should be addressed.
First, social media at times can be an illusion and not based in reality. On social media almost everyone is beautiful, but if you walk through the airport you know that isn’t the reality of the world. Twitter may have an opinion that isn’t shared in real life, so you can’t take what you see on social media at face value. Instagram and Snapchat are nothing but filter images of what people what you to see, not the reality of their lives.
Which leads to my second point, which is many people are hypocrites in social media and in real life. They are just riding the wave, but don’t practice what they preach. If I say I am not listening or watching something for whatever reason, I mean it, but I don’t say that often because I know it isn’t true. Most people just outright lie. Social media is fantasy land, where you can be whoever you want and 99% of the time no one knows the truth, so it is easy to pretend that you are outraged about things that don’t bother you at all.
There are probably a few people who have legitimately canceled people, but the majority if we are honest have not.
Now that we have addressed a lot of the fakeness that is going on, the question is, are you selling out or co-signing the personal choices of athletes, entertainers, and musicians if you appreciate their craft?
The answer is a resounding NO. You know why?
If you truly applied the “canceled” theory to every suspect entertainer or athlete, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything. You have to decide individually what you can tolerate and what you can’t. It isn’t an either/or situation, but an individual choice that only you can make. Is Kanye being MAGA enough to turn you off from his music? If you like a Kanye song does that all of a sudden mean you share his beliefs and can’t speak out against him? These things aren’t always mutually exclusive.
You can’t judge a person just because they think a song is good or a show is funny, that’s just stupid. I did a segment on my TV Show “Old School Sports” recently about Dwight Howard. I think Dwight is a clown and always have, but at the end of the segment, my co-host asked me if I think he is a Hall of Famer.
I wish people were more honest, it is ok to say you think MAGA Kanye annoys you but you like his new joint (I thought it was ok, nothing to call home about). Don’t feel pressured into lying about what you like just to fit in. They are two separate things, and if you decide one of those things will cause you not to like the other that is fine, but it is also fine if you find enjoyment from something that doesn’t have to do with your personal feelings of the person who is entertaining you.