Why you should stay away from Ye

Walking through Troy Hall, one hears a lot of things — screams, conspicuous wet noises and loud music. My roommate is one of these volume-offenders, but today, his music struck a different chord. This was not just any artist — this was Kanye. Though I was initially skeptical of how he had snuck his way into my speakers — Kanye is blocked on my Alexa — it was the “why” that I was more inclined to know.

First of all, a disclaimer: This isn’t a Kanye-esque tirade about the masculine urge to do crime, nor do I have an agenda against the literal mankind. There are problems in every group, male-centric or not, and Kanye’s values just happen to align with problems in our University. 

With his infamous history of doxxing, criticizing female artists and illegitimate political campaigning, Kanye has solidified his role as a beacon of attention-seeking behavior. Most recently, his public diatribe in response to his estranged wife Kim Kardashian’s relationship with comedian Pete Davidson has barred him from performing at the GRAMMYs and posting on Instagram.

Kanye, known to a few as the “most influential artist of all time,” allows himself to be criticized in a different manner than his contemporaries. As a celebrity who functions as a personality rather than just an artist, his endeavors are comprehensive multimedia campaigns. 

Each of his pursuits is authentically him, and as he said in a 2018 tweet, he “can’t be managed.” After leaving his management to gain greater control of his pursuits, Kanye began to lose the polish of professionality. His music is truly an extension of who he is. You can’t separate art from the artist when the art is, effectively, Kanye.

If you’re bored on a Friday night, listen for “Monster” down the Row and see if you’re one of the few people pretty — or white — enough to get into a party (if you do, rap Nicki’s verse in my honor). Fraternities, as much of a testosterone-filled target demographic they are, aren’t as nice as they seem. Put on your bro-noculars and let me clue you in.

According to Vox, fraternities are “distributed discipline,” drawing on a corporate model of management. A chain of command is established within the rowdiest demographic of the undergraduate population, and similar to the way our University ignores their custodial workers, they also seem to enjoy letting the next rung of leadership take the responsibility for the incessant toxic masculinity exercised in fraternal groups. 

Thomas Gustafson, an associate professor of English and American studies and ethnicity, spoke of this lack of equitable practices in his class “Reading the Heart,” saying “I’d like to see USC abandon the Greek system, as I see it as undemocratic and rooted in a social structure of gender (and race/ethnicity) relations that is archaic and not fitting or appropriate for life in the 21st century.” 

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.” Frats are only as good as their worst brother, and if you surround yourself with immoral people, others will think the same of you, whether you like it or not. When I see frat boys in their suits every Monday, accessorized in Derschutze and Ralph Laurens, it’s obvious that these boys are protective of their social image. 

Despite this awareness, they continue to support Kanye, who has been branded as a misogynist after featuring artists like Marilyn Manson and DaBaby in his tracks. In the same way that these associations dictate his narrative, the same can be said about his listeners. Being polarizing and offensive is becoming a marketing tactic which the next generation of men may try to imitate.

Just like any historically white, male organization, fraternities have failed to hold their own accountable too many times to be covered up by daddy’s money. Not only is this an issue within Greek life, but it also mirrors the same recklessness that Kanye exhibits. 

Kanye’s behaviors are a stellar example of unchecked masculine privilege, and the longer we support him, the more likely his actions will begin to manifest in his listeners, who have seen a lack of repercussions for his problematic behavior. In response to the criticism of his claim that slavery was a “choice,” Kanye has been quoted saying, “once again I am being attacked for presenting new ideas.” This narcissism isn’t excusable by Kanye’s history of ignoring his mental health issues, nor is it an issue of misinterpretation.

Do you listen to Kanye? If so, ask yourself these questions: Why do I allow myself to be associated with an artist who is unabashedly terrorizing others? Do I understand that supporting Kanye enables him to continue his rampages? Hold others and yourself accountable, and realize art does not exist in a vacuum, and neither does harassment or toxicity. Let’s all do our part by finding our own “power.”

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