A Newsletter With An Agenda (You Love To See It)
cancel
/kans(ə)l/
verb
describes a form of boycott in which someone (usually a celebrity) who has shared a questionable or unpopular opinion, or has had behavior that is perceived to be offensive called out on social media is "canceled": they are completely boycotted by many fans, often leading to massive declines in celebrities' (almost always social media personalities) careers and fanbase.
I cancelled Maraji for a minute or two last month after she did what I felt was the most insensitive shit ever.
similar: call-out.
Naira Marley's soapy is a jam. This doesn't exactly mean I'm a Marlian (okay, maybe I am) or that I endorse the soapy dance. For this letter, I had to watch the video of soapy, a video I hadn't watched properly before, and I started wondering, what exactly is this inside life business all about? At the risk of sounding passionate, Naira Marley did poetry in that song. Yes, the beat might be "crass" albeit catchy, the type you find yourself dancing to, even though you're self-righteous and squeeze your face when you hear the word "soapy" — a self sub, before I'm outed — but the lyrics to the song are "deep".
The Nigerian prison system isn't as referenced or written about in popular culture or literature as say sex or love or money. There's nothing really to reflect the reality of the hardships they suffer, nothing from overcrowding, poor ventilation, poor feeding, poor medical attention and of course lack of conjugal visiting rights (which was the focal point of his song-ish).
In this year of our Lord, the age of cancel culture, and so many cultures that tend to disapprove of people once their opinions don't align with the norm (read also men-are-scum culture — guilty as charged because men are scum) I've been curious about what it is that people hate: The song? The artist(e)? The dance?
Haven't gotten a good answer more than he is a proud Yahoo boy and has been charged with same by EFCC. I tried to have the conversation with someone but it got twisted and my very well-intentioned words got misconstrued. After the conversation, I started to think about a tweet I'd seen a few days ago. The user tweeted that she still enjoyed R. Kelly music and couldn't cancel his music (in spite of the allegations of rape and other sexual misconducts against him.) A response said, you can't separate the art from the artist.
In 2005, I watched airings of People vs Jackson. I was vaguely aware of what it was about. Whatever it was, though, Michael Jackson could not have done it. Years later, I discovered or fully understood the gravity of his alleged offence: He had been charged with molesting a cancer patient in remission inter alia, but was found not guilty. I know Michael Jackson is the greatest of all time, but I've thought time and time again, what if he was found guilty? Are we capable of canceling him too? Or do we cancel people based on how much we like or dislike them? The crassness (quality) or otherwise of their art? What would happen to his musical legacy? What about Fela's glaring anti-women lyrics? The misogyny? The several wives he treated as commodity? Do we boycott his quite-relevant music and much-needed activism, seeing as the 21st century Nigeria is an aspiring feminist (and rightly so)?
Here's where it gets trickier. Or maybe not that trickier, maybe just more interesting, depending on what angle you're coming from. Aisha Yesufu, a woman who's at the forefront of political and women's rights activism, might just be homophobic. See here. Where does that put all of her activism (that gets things done) in the grand scheme of things? When that thread happened, I saw her get called out and cancelled. And then there's our good ol' Segalink, the assigned anti-SARS Messiah. Also, misogynist.
Aiite, let’s separate the art from the artist, mate.
Did you know that the idea of separating the art from the artist was a tool created to analyse poetry at the beginning of the 20th century? It has since gone in different directions. I've been reading about this for a while, and there has not been a satisfying answer to my questions and conflicted thoughts. Conversations don't work because everyone has an agenda (like this letter). If I heard that Asa did something sexually inappropriate today, what would I do? Boycott the joy and pleasure Bibanke, Ife and Eyo give me due to my moral disgust, righteousness and activism? Which will win? What do I do with art I love that was created by a monster?
When it comes down to it, I don't have the answers. Do you? Can you share your thoughts with me? I am sure of quite a few things: humans make mistakes, and humans aren't binary. I can’t tell you how you should feel about Soapy, or the Cosby show or Friends (which was/is highly patriarchal, fatphobic and homophobic).
One more thing that I can add with a pinch of certainty is this: a work of art that resonates with you does just that, irrespective of the artist. And soapy, speaks to me. (MOSTLY the fact that I can dance to it.)
It’s not a rational decision, what we love. It’s not possible to have loved a text and then retrospectively to unlove it. - Hayes-Brady
Further reading: Does cancel culture actually work? Which essentially says cancel culture isn't often permanent, but it does let public figures know that fans will hold them accountable. It's sweet, infectious rage, but do it really mean something? Read here. And this which says, it might be fueling the success of the culprits. What do we do when the art we love was created by a monster? Read here.
Bonus reading: In Defense of Fiction by Zadie Smith and the Myth of Lazy Mothers.
In other news...
This newsletter wasn't listening to Soapy. This letter isn't as razz as the writer. Nope. This letter was listening to Asa's new songs, counting down to October 11. This newsletter survived last week by binge watching Friends. Catch me this week, recovering from a four-day illness in wedges the size of my fist, dancing, perhaps at Sewa's wedding. Bon nuit, mon amie.