I've always hated country music — though I acknowledge, I never truly gave it a take chances. But last year, I plant myself making an exception for Morgan Wallen when I heard his song "vii Summers." Since so, I've listened to a bulk of his songs and even watched YouTube videos of him competing on "The Voice."

However, earlier I could truly call myself a fan, around February of final year, a video of a drunken Wallen and his friends surfaced, in which he tin can clearly be heard shouting the n-word. Wallen is a white man, clearly making it problematic. In the months since, Wallen has continued touring and working on music, merely his career-altering scandal marked the cease of the route for my country music stage.

The other day, I was shuffling my favorite songs on Spotify while driving effectually my hometown when "7 Summers" came on, and without even thinking virtually it, I listened to the song in its entirety. I couldn't help but feel guilty subsequently the fact, considering even afterward everything he's washed, I can't help merely love that song. Naturally, I wondered if it made sense to associate his racist actions with his music.

This entire situation wittles down to one question: Tin can we carve up the art from the artist? By this I mean, to what extent is music — or any class of art — a reflection of the negative actions of the vocalizer or creative person it is credited to?

crumpled paper
Crumpled pages from a volume. In today's cancel civilization climate, can we still separate the art from the artist? Eden shares her thoughts. COURTESY OF MICHAEL DZIEDZIC VIA UNSPLASH

Can I all the same listen to Michael Jackson, despite accusations of pedophilia? Is it incorrect to reread the "Harry Potter" series following author J.Chiliad. Rowling's transphobic Twitter posts? How almost David Dobrik, who's YouTube videos had dominated the cyberspace until he was continued to a sexual assault that occured backside-the-scenes during the filming of 1 of his videos?

At that place isn't a yes or no answer to this question. The art which you consume — whether information technology exist movies, Tv shows or music — is your own decision. Even though I struggle to listen to music by singers whose deportment I condemn, I observe information technology unfair to force these expectations upon everyone else.

For one, I see cancel culture as a toxic phenomenon that promotes nothing but shame and hatred. The faceless ability of the net takes property people accountable to a whole new level of bullying and ostracization. But the thing is, not anybody is cancelled every bit, and there are some celebrities that are seemingly immune to it. Take rapper YNW Melly for example, whose vocal "Murder On My Mind" only saw more than success after the rapper was put on trial for murder.

If we don't hold every artist to the aforementioned standards, practise we have the authority to tell people which ones are cancelled, and what music they can no longer listen to?

Opposingly, there remains the statement that by streaming one'southward song you are essentially paying them, so why would we cull to pay people who have washed something so incorrect? Just hither's my counter every bit to why that'south not necessarily the instance.

Try to see singers equally a business. Sure, they are the face of the brand, but at that place are hundreds of other people profiting off their songs, whether it exist managers, product teams or even the cashiers at their concert merchandise stands. If ane of the board members of Apple was revealed to have fabricated sexist comments, would you realistically stop using your iPhone? If the CEO of Nissan was involved in a fraud-related lawsuit, would you sell your car and purchase a new one?

Y'all won't find me listening to artists I observe to be racist, sexist or problematic in any way. But separating the art from the artist is an inherently personal decision. It'south up to you to figure out what you lot recollect is right or wrong. But if you choose to consume fine art created by problematic people, brand sure you recognize what they did incorrect. The last thing we demand to be doing is idolizing people we shouldn't be.