Kanye Made Me Sick When He Defended Bill Cosby. Can I Still Love His Music?

“Amazing, Michael Jackson, amazing.”

“OJ Simpson, amazing.”

“BILL COSBY INNOCENT!!!!!!!”

Three quotes from Kanye West, seemingly in defense of three alleged criminals. And not just criminals, but criminals accused of the most vile, predatory offenses — the rape of women and children, the murder of a spouse and her friend.

It’s often a struggle to balance appreciating an artist and their work with their personal flaws, demons, offenses against humanity.

There are countless examples, both recent and historical — Chris Brown’s domestic violence, Eminem’s homophobia, Tupac’s sexual assault, R. Kelly’s dubious track record with young girls, Michael Jackson’s dubious track record with young boys, Ike Turner’s abuse of Tina Turner and hip hop’s subsequent embrace of it.

When Jay Z raps “eat the cake Anna Mae, said eat the cake, Anna Mae” — a reference to an abusive episode when Ike forced cake down Tina’s throat — are we supposed to think that’s clever? Shocking?

Better question: why do we ignore it? Because it was part of a song so catchy and addictive, it was too much of an inconvenience to care?

As a long-time, devoted fan of hip hop, I’ve tried very hard to make it a policy not to take a moral stance on music — there’s just too many complications.

Kanye’s Tweet

But then Kanye tweeted:

I had a physical reaction — a sick feeling. Especially on the eve of Kanye’s much anticipated new album — one I’d been waiting for with baited breath.

Am I going to buy it now? Or even listen to it? Can I listen to anything Kanye anymore? What about all the stuff he’s produced and guested on?

To try and draw a clear line on what is acceptable and what isn’t from an artist seems impossible and any attempt almost immediately turns you into a hypocrite.

All the above mentioned artists and their transgressions? I’ve gotten over them — I’ve listened to and enjoyed their music since then. And like millions of other people, I’d hazard to guess, I don’t feel all that conflicted about it.

But then Kanye defended Cosby — a man accused by as many as 60 women of being a sadistic, maniacally predatory and unrepentant rapist.

And it made me sick.

Meanwhile, despite the tweet, you have a blog like Slate writing an article declaring Kanye the greatest critic of all time. I’m guessing it was written before the Cosby tweet, because that is only thrown in at the end and quickly dismissed because it messed with their ridiculous thesis.

The conversation on Twitter, by the next day, had turned to Kanye changing the name of his album for the umteenth time to The Life of Pablo.

And I’m like, whatever dude, you defended that fuck Cosby.

Why Did He Say It? Did He Have a Right to Say It?

Cosby hasn’t been convicted of anything. And Michael Jackson wasn’t convicted and OJ was found not guilty of murder in criminal court.

So theoretically everyone can have an opinion. Hell, Steven Avery WAS convicted of murder and there’s plenty of people lining up to proclaim his innocence.

Then there’s the backdrop of the thousands of black men who don’t get a fair shot in the criminal justice system every day. Or those that don’t even get their day in court because they get killed by the police.

You could make the argument that the injustices against black men are so rampant that to paint Cosby as a guilty man before he’s been tried only adds to this epidemic, regardless of the circumstances.

Was Kanye’s tweet a piece of political or social commentary?

Certainly when Kanye went on Saturday Night Live during Hurricane Katrina and said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” it was a necessary and impactful bit of political/social commentary, as upset as it may have made some people.

There’s a big difference, though, in defending the defenseless victims of Katrina and a powerful figure like Cosby — one who presumably used that power to enact hateful violence on women again and again, over a period of decades.

I also just don’t know if I want to give Kanye that much credit. My suspicion is that he’s reactive and immature — out of touch with reality and uninformed.

This is someone who’s proclaimed himself a “proud non-reader of books.”

What we know about Cosby is too overwhelming to ignore or excuse. Just because you’re not guilty in the eyes of the law doesn’t mean you’re truly not guilty.

This also comes on the heels of Kanye’s ludicrous rant against Wiz Khalifa, one in which he declared “you wouldn’t have a child if it wasn’t for me.”

It’s Not Going to Matter

My guess is that the new album will be met with critical and commercial success. Outlets like Slate will eat it up. We’ll forget about what Kanye said about Cosby.

Because, really, other artists have done far worse — even said worse. It hasn’t ruined their careers.

Kanye is a musical genius and I don’t have a problem with him saying it.

It’s just frustrating and hugely disappointing as a fan that someone who can say such brilliant things in his music about difficult, complicated issues (“New Slaves” is one great example), can say such stupid, ignorant things on social media.

I’m truly offended that he defended Cosby. But, honestly, I think I also just feel angry that he’s given me such a poor choice as a music lover — whether I abandon Kanye or embrace him — I’m a hypocrite either way.