When Musicians Are More Dramatic Than Teenagers
Whether you’re a mainstream artist or an underground one, there is criticism everywhere. Criticism, whether it’s constructive or just plain hate, is part of growing as an artist. For some artists, this means that critics might trash your newest project, even though you’ve been working on it for years. For others, it could mean that your social media is littered with people commenting “L” under every post you have.
Stuff like this happens a lot in any artistic industry, but the way you react to criticism can determine if people should take you seriously or not. Responding immaturely to criticism can alienate your fan base, as demonstrated by multiple in recent weeks.
Take the well-known music producer, rapper, and singer Russ. Russ was the center of a lot of criticism in 2017 and 2018. When addressing the hate, the rapper would blame his “gift of writing, making beats and rapping” as the cause of all of the criticism that he has received. Many people were not impressed.
“I felt like [Russ] was digging himself into deep holes,” says Eastside senior Courtney Bonne. “His arrogance is what made him unlikeable. Like, you’re a producer AND a rapper, that’s great. But nobody cares. There’s a lot of rappers who make beats, bro. Relax.”
As an artist, you can’t just blame your art for the criticism. Stuff like that can alienate fans, just as did for Courtney.
“I was a fan of Russ, but after all of that corny sh*t he’s said, and that Smokepurpp incident, I’m like ‘Nah,’” Bonne concludes.
For those who don’t know, Smokepurpp is another rapper, who happened to have beef with Russ in 2018 and ended up getting jumped by Russ’ goons and confronted by Russ himself the next day. As Courtney points, this caused a lot of Russ’ fans to disconnect from the rapper.
Being cocky isn’t the only way to alienate your fans. You can also pull a Nicki Minaj and encourage your fans to bully someone else. This move is especially ugly for successful artists with a large following, who still feel it necessary to get into arguments with anyone they think is wrong.
For example, when an Instagram user comment on one of Nicki Minaj’s posts pointing out that her husband is a convicted rapist, the rapper replied by insulting the commenter’s appearance. She then followed her comment with the hashtag #blackgirltragic, often used to spared awareness about missing and murdered black women whose cases have been prematurely closed. This move angered many fans.
“I would think a grown woman wouldn’t be acting like a high schooler, especially as a female rapper who claims to be all about female empowerment,” says Eastside senior Anne Brown. “And right before she retired, she even repeated the phrase, talking about she doesn’t care about the actual meaning of the hashtag because it’s always the ‘black b*tches’ who would always come for her and her rapist boyfriend. It’s odd for somebody who has fans who have been raped to act like this.”
High school has enough drama already. Our musicians shouldn’t be adding to it.
