Separating the Art from the Artist

XXXTentacion & R Kelly / amped illustration

A couple of months have passed since the death of the flawed and talented artist Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy better known as XXXTentacion and I’ve been struggling with the question whether or not it is possible to separate the artist from the art.

Now that the whole debates, think pieces and threads on twitter have died, I think it’s time to revisit the whole conversation again from a purely objective perspective.

“The best things our heroes can do is die before they can disappoint us”

- S02E02 “Fallen Heroes” The Carmichael show

Following his life through my twitter feed, I was an observer from afar of his very tumultuous lifestyle plagued by frequent jail visits and violent fights. He had already painted a picture of himself unconsciously in my mind. No doubt, he was a problem kid and I wanted nothing to do with him. Then one day I stumbled across a song that stopped me in my tracks. Jocelyn Flores, eponymously named after a dear friend to him who lost the battle to depression was like an open letter to death.

“I'm in pain, wanna put ten shots in my brain

I've been trippin' 'bout some things, can't change

Suicidal, same time I'm tame”

Cries Onfroy on a very slow instrumental so the words really hit you. He gave me a sneak peak into his mind with this song and boy it was like a dark hallway scattered with graffiti and Basquiat paintings -beautiful and flawed. I played the song on repeat till i fell asleep. I wasn’t too sure about him as a person yet, but I was sold on him as an artiste. His older violent songs gave me a broader picture into his life as a person. I saw beyond the music. Beyond the articles. Beyond the psychopathic maniac he was. I saw potential.

Then a couple of months later, an article came out about his alleged violent abuse of his then pregnant girlfriend. The article was very detailed and grim. I read every bit of it in horror and shock. Is this the person I’m giving my ears? So what does that say about me? Am I by association supporting an abuser?

Fast-forward to earlier this year, he dropped his sophomore album “?” and here was I once again, admiring this beautiful body of work from a very flawed person. The breakout single “SAD!” was beautifully heartbreaking. The song exposed his possessiveness which seemed very unsettling at first but upon further listens, I understood that feeling of being scared to let go. I could relate in a very weird way and that scared me because I felt a connection with this “psychopath” through his art.

The thing about art is that it has a way of cutting across various people and personalities.

Again, the question about separating the person from their art kept plaguing my mind. On one hand, his actions were despicable and I wanted him to serve whatever consequence was befitting. On the other hand, I didn’t want the music to stop.

Then on the 18th of June, in the late hours of the night, the news broke on twitter that he was unconscious and in a coma after a robbery gone wrong. I felt a sick feeling in my stomach and I wasn’t sure why. Was it wrong to feel sad that he was dead? Was it selfish for me to feel sad that I would never have the experience of seeing his fully developed potential? Was this retribution for his alleged victims? A lot of thoughts filled my head that night as I lay in my bed playing both “?” & “17” on an endless loop.

Looking back, I understand why there was huge divide on twitter about the reaction to his death. You cannot spend your early life hurting people and not expect to have any enemies. There are consequences for every action. However, there’s also room for redemption.

Nonetheless, this article isn’t to castigate any party, rather it’s to find a balance between the art and the artist. Where do we draw the line?

Given the fact that art is subjective, most art comes from experiences or emotions. Which is why the best songs are often the ones we can relate to. But, relating to a song doesn’t necessarily mean you relate with the whole artist’s lifestyle. Take an artist like Drake, whom I call the most relatable artist of our time, yet he has a whole plethora of songs I can only dream about relating to. The dichotomy between his lifestyle and mine is as clear as day. So why isn’t this same liberty extended to the “problematic” artists?

I feel for this question to be answered, we need to first address the culture of domestic abuse that is prevalent in various forms of art. This stems from the abuse already prevalent in life. Whether we believe the Aristotelian Mimesis or Oscar wilde’s anti-mimesis, one thing we can gather from both philosophical ideologies is that life and art are almost mirror opposites of each other.

We live in a patriarchal culture where abuse is often overlooked and women have been given the short end of the stick, therefore it’s expected that this shouldn’t be tolerated at a world stage by celebrities whom are often viewed as some sort of models to younger kids. Although we can also argue that nobody owes anybody to act right as a model for anybody, however, the reality is that some certain people are in the spotlight therefore their actions and flaws would always be in the forefront. Also point to note that abuse shouldn’t be regarded as a “flaw” on an artist part, rather a serious problem that deserves consequence.

So, where does this leave me, a fan of the music. I love music and art. However, I’ve recently found out that many men who I used to be a fan of are pretty shitty - for lack of a better term - human beings. The dilemma of how to respect an artist's talent but despise the person weighs very heavy on the listener. Take 6ix9ine for example, I deliberately decided to avoid his music for as long as possible, however, this kid was dominating the charts with his songs. I’m still not a huge fan of his, however, I’d be lying if I said he cannot rap or doesn’t have some songs that are good. Does that excuse his actions? NO, Does that make me a supporter of him? NO. It just means I enjoy music. I’m a fan of music first before anything, which is why I always prefer when artists get me to fall in love with their art anonymously before I get to know who they are (The Weeknd, 6lack, H.E.R, Banksy… and so many others are prime examples of this).

I also feel we need to stop giving excuses and reasons for abusers to thrive because they’re excellent in other areas. But that also doesn’t mean we cannot appreciate their excellence while condemning their ugly actions. The #MeToo movement is the perfect insight, showing that many people that are great in some areas are also very very very terrible humans. The beauty of this movement was that it gave women a voice and it also showed the naivete of most men (myself included) about what was really happening behind closed doors. It showed me that many people I supported and loved were demons outside of the spotlight. It also showed me a glimpse of how horrible it feels to be born a woman in a world where your safety isn’t guaranteed. From Louis CK to Johnny Depp to Kodak Black, it was an eye-opener that some really talented people in their craft had some ugly pasts.

So where does redemption come in? Is it possible for an alleged abuser to still have a future? This is a tricky one, because we live in a “cancel culture” where everyone is said to be canceled on social media but not in real life. I strongly feel that redemption should be possible for anybody if it’s genuine. This means there has to be consequences served for the actions committed and also a spirit of change. But even after consequences served and visible change, nobody owes anyone anything especially forgiveness. That choice to forgive, is left to the victim, the convicted and whatever you choose to believe. That’s the beauty - and curse - of life.

Therefore, what’s the solution? I really do not feel like I’m in the position to give any solution. The point of this article wasn’t to give a conclusive solution, rather open a room for discourse and debate.

What do you do when you have to come to terms with the fact that your idols are people too?

When you’re faced with the horrendous reality of their crimes? How do you conflate their transgressions with the beauty you find in their art?

After all, beauty does come from the darkest places, how do we decide what darkness is too dark? There needs to be a balance between how we choose to appreciate the art and condemn the artist. Take Robert Kelly for example, he’s such a vile and despicable person, and YES I’d stand by my word any day because he knows what he’s doing/done is wrong and is so nonchalant about it. However, i’d be lying if i said he wasn’t an incredible and gifted singer. I grew up on his songs and he has a lot of classics in his discography. However, I cannot stand to listen to him today because each time I hear his voice, regardless of how good he sounds, I’m reminded of the fact that he married Aaliyah at 15, and his #peegate incident. So how does one draw this line, and how do you judge?

The difference between him and X is that at least towards the end of X’s life, I saw some signs of change in the kid. And i’ve personally seen how he has affected kids going through depression with his music. Now all these do not invalidate or cancel his violent past, and that is something that will haunt his artistry forever. Maybe if he was still alive, we would have gotten a better glimpse and understanding of the kid. He might have grown up to be a better person, or a worse person. A longer life might have filled in some blanks and helped us see how well he fared with his chance at redemption.

But now… now I guess we’ll never know.