Source: Marcus Ingram / Getty
Every time Kanye West finds (or puts) himself in the news and trending on social media—usually behind some controversial comment he made or tweeted and, of course, when he drops a new album—anti-hypocrisy and misogynoir Twitter comes through with a fresh discussion about the curious career demise of singer Chrisette Michele.
There are a lot of different arguments here.
Some say if Kanye was never “canceled” after all the MAGA-fied Trump-humping and disrespecting of the ancestors he’s done, then Michele should never have been “canceled” for performing Donald Trump’s inauguration. (I put “canceled” in quotes because I don’t believe “cancel culture” is an actual thing for various reasons, but that’s a post for another day.)
Some argue that Yeezus is simply too big to fail. In other words, he’s a musical superstar with nearly two decades in the game and his following dwarf’s Michele’s (and the vast majority of recording artists, for that matter) so it just isn’t realistic to expect him to be universally canceled, despite him being dragged across Twitter far more than most. (If Michele was Beyonce, it would be different.)
Then there are those who argue that “cancel culture” is a myth, that nobody asked for Michele to be dropped from her label and her actual fanbase would probably still support her if she dropped new music today.
The fact remains, though, that there are plenty of people out there who had all the smoke in the world for the “Blame It On Me” singer over her Trump performance, but none for the guy who literally posed for pictures in MAGA hats and declared that slavery was a choice.
So, with the release of DONDA and the absolute social media craze that has surrounded it, comparisons between Kanye and Michele came to the forefront once again.
“Since our culture is so hyped about Kanye West’s #Donda album; it’s time to UNcancel @ChrisetteM!” Jawn Murray tweeted. I hated her singing at 45’s inauguration… But #ChrisetteMichele never disrespected our history/ancestors; didn’t rock a MAGA hat; & never ran a covert campaign to sway an election!”
He also said, “I don’t think she was genuinely canceled I just feel like her career was just really at the end. She was never an A List Celeb, so her career could end easy.”
Maybe it’s more complicated than that, maybe it’s not, but eventually, Michele herself decided to join the conversation share some of her own insight on things.
“Being compared to Kanye & Travis for the last 5 years. Watching them soar into the highest realms of stardom. Waiting on God’s hand to show me exactly what my story will look like,” she wrote. “I’ve made a choice to stay full of gratitude and master peace, but today, this post has inspired me to allow the energy of comparison to enter my feed.”
She went on to say she’s “not really attached to the results of the conversation,” but she said she was here for the question of why people didn’t have the same energy for Kanye and Travis when one endorsed Trump and the other sang with her.
“What does my role as FEMALE play in this story?” she asked. “What about my role as Christian?”
Her bringing up her faith was a bit odd seeing as Ye has basically gone full-gospel himself and we still live in a country where around two-thirds of the population still identify as some denomination of Christian, but whether or not her being a woman at least played a role in things is a legitimate question.
Michele also asked, “Would you release new music if you were me?” And that’s a good question, especially if you’re one of her true fans.
So, what do y’all think?
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