Cancel culture has been a hot topic over the past few years; a controversial one, at that. We’ve seen plenty of people, including the former president of the United States, rail against the concept of being ‘canceled’ but in hip-hop and R&B, it’s been a particularly touchy subject. Artists like R. Kelly and Tekashi 6ix9ine, particularly, have been polarizing figures at large which have played a role in how they’ve maintained their relevance.
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Some people don’t appear to be on board with the ideas of canceling artists, especially if the art, itself, is worth consuming. During a recent interview with Fox Soul, the rapper explained that he’s able to separate the art from the artist in regards to artists like R. Kelly and Tekashi 6ix9ine. “How I would view him as an artist, he’s almost like a rockstar,” explained Bow Wow of his fandom of R. Kelly. “When I look at him as the artist, right? What he does in his personal life is what he does in his personal life but when I look at Tekashi 6ix9ine, I look at the artist.”
Shad explained that he doesn’t ‘hop on waves’ in terms of ‘canceling’ individuals in the limelight because he doesn’t know these people personally. “We know the story, we see what it is. That’s what it is. Cool. But, that’s not my business, but, you know, the music is something separate,” he added. “We all don’t agree with what happened to R. Kelly but do I still listen to his music at times? The artist? Yes, I do. It’s great music.”
Check out the clip below.