example ...Kanye West doesn't mind speaking his truth. Will his recent support of the President or his comments about slavery affect your decision to buy his next album? Should radio stations boycott artist for speaking their opinion? what's your thoughts?

00000 said:

not really!

I think what bothers me most is the fake caring. But I buy what I like which is mostly R&B and soft rock with a little pop and rap here and there.

Not in the 'tribal' sense the question seems to be hinting at, and not if their views don't make it into their songs. But I suppose my view of the individual behind the song inevitably colours my emotional response to their art, especially if they're singing about their views. A song can still be musically engaging in many cases, even though it's lyrically shit, of course; but, for example, if it were Morrissey singing about his newfound love of the far-right, it'd be hard to say, "Oh, well, it's still a nice tune...."

That said, there are some people I 'respectfully disagree' with, while still enjoying something about the art itself - like Prince in his "theocratic order" phase, or with his jingoism in 'America' and 'Free'. Similarly, with Janelle at the moment, I generally like what she's saying, but it's a viewpoint I think stops too short, so I still want to engage with it like any other political position, rather than uncritically nod along. In general, I like to discuss artistic comment, as it can be very meaningful, and that can open up interesting discussions. I'm somewhat allergic to today's fashionable indifference.

not a whole lot... it is hard to know. I can only think of a few actors I can't stand whos political ideas are all jacked up... but I did not really care for them all that much before.


Same with some singers. there is one icon whose political views are horrid and I would never get one of their albums but I also happen to not care for their songs either.

Even Prince crossed a line or two with me...there is one song I hate over its politics but I also think it is not very good otherwise... But I can skip that one right?


I am NO fan of Kanye West... and I do not really agree with what he said... but I also believe he did not say what many think he said. AND it is crazy to attack him as a black man for giving his opinion--as if he was not allowed to 'speak out of turn."

jjhunsecker said:

000000 said:

example ...Kanye West doesn't mind speaking his truth. Will his recent support of the President or his comments about slavery affect your decision to buy his next album? Should radio stations boycott artist for speaking their opinion? what's your thoughts?

I suspect Kanye's recent support of Trump will bite him in the ass, since his core audience is Black people, Latinos, and young White hipster types- most of whom generally have no use for Trump. They'll see Kanye as a betrayal, especially given Trump's documented history of bigotry. I generally don't let an artist's politics affect my view of them (though it's nice that Springsteen is close to my own views). HOWEVER, I make an exception for Ted Nugent- even if I liked his music, his revolting political views and comments would have driven me away.

I can not think of anyone I really like who I will 'boycott' over their views. Maybe the closest is Sean Penn (who I was not impressed with before) or Bruse... (but I knew before Born in the USA that his views were not in line with mine...but he has some good songs but I never got into any other than a few of the big hits and Pink Cadillac.)

deebee said:

Not in the 'tribal' sense the question seems to be hinting at, and not if their views don't make it into their songs. But I suppose my view of the individual behind the song inevitably colours my emotional response to their art, especially if they're singing about their views. A song can still be musically engaging in many cases, even though it's lyrically shit, of course; but, for example, if it were Morrissey singing about his newfound love of the far-right, it'd be hard to say, "Oh, well, it's still a nice tune...."

That said, there are some people I 'respectfully disagree' with, while still enjoying something about the art itself - like Prince in his "theocratic order" phase, or with his jingoism in 'America' and 'Free'. Similarly, with Janelle at the moment, I generally like what she's saying, but it's a viewpoint I think stops too short, so I still want to engage with it like any other political position, rather than uncritically nod along. In general, I like to discuss artistic comment, as it can be very meaningful, and that can open up interesting discussions. I'm somewhat allergic to today's fashionable indifference.

As on so many occasions before, deebee describes my thoughts more eloquently than I could.

never

deebee said:

Not in the 'tribal' sense the question seems to be hinting at, and not if their views don't make it into their songs. But I suppose my view of the individual behind the song inevitably colours my emotional response to their art, especially if they're singing about their views. A song can still be musically engaging in many cases, even though it's lyrically shit, of course; but, for example, if it were Morrissey singing about his newfound love of the far-right, it'd be hard to say, "Oh, well, it's still a nice tune...."

That said, there are some people I 'respectfully disagree' with, while still enjoying something about the art itself - like Prince in his "theocratic order" phase, or with his jingoism in 'America' and 'Free'. Similarly, with Janelle at the moment, I generally like what she's saying, but it's a viewpoint I think stops too short, so I still want to engage with it like any other political position, rather than uncritically nod along. In general, I like to discuss artistic comment, as it can be very meaningful, and that can open up interesting discussions. I'm somewhat allergic to today's fashionable indifference.

I can't imagine that if someone who I respected musically participated in the march WITH the Klan in Charlottesville that I could be equally open to their music after knowing that. On the other hand, it would be hard to imagine that the lyrics and attitude of this type of musician would be appealing to me beforehand as I imagine that their messed up world view would leak out into their lyrics and probably even their music.

[Edited 5/13/18 11:05am]

Not so much unless an artist preaches politics too much but they could be from the right or left and I just don't like artists that treat the audience like cattle.