I was a fan but it’s time to remove Kanye from music streaming services | Guest Opinion

Kanye West had been one of my favorite artists ever since I got my first Spotify Premium account in ninth grade. Like so many other kids my age, I savored the hours I spent listening to what I perceived as the greatest producer and one of the greatest rappers of his generation. I listened and appreciated his singles, like Gorgeous, and his albums, such as Yeezus.

To me, and to his millions of young fans, there seemed to be no one quite like him. However, in light of West’s recent anti-Semitic remarks, the narrative that there is “no one quite like him” has taken on a whole new, disheartening, meaning.

When West first made anti-Semitic remarks by tweeting, in a rather inarticulate fashion, that he was going to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” I felt sad,although not surprised. After all, West had just posted photos of himself on Instagram wearing a shirt that read “White Lives Matter” on the back.

So it was just another reason for me to cut out West from my Spotify playlists. But even after these incidents, I remained hopeful that West could at least apologize to those he hurt and attempt to communicate his perceived grievances. After all, the public pressure seemed to be enormous.

He’d lost a reported $1.5 billion of his net worth as major corporations like Adidas and Balenciaga cut ties with him. However, instead of following the logical and potentially career-saving approach of making amends, West followed a course of action similar to what he had so brilliantly laid out on his 2007 song, Can’t Tell Me Nothing: “I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny. And what I do? Act more stupidly.”

West doubled, or even tripled, down on his antisemitism. In an interview with Alex Jones on Info Wars, West said, “I like Hitler,” denied Hitler had killed six million Jews and other blatantly outrageous, indefensible remarks.

This was a tipping point. As a proud Jew who grew up with great-grandparents who survived the Holocaust, fled to the United States without a dime in their pocket and struggled to build a new life, I was sickened by West. What he had said before that seemed to me, albeit rather naively, potentially forgivable. It seemed difficult to believe that West really had it in for Jewish people and truly wanted to take shots at the African American community.

However, when West not only stuck by his older remarks but also added newer and much more volatile ones, it became evident to me, a die-hard fan, that action needed to be taken against West.

Although West’s right to such destructive speech is protected by the First Amendment (and rightfully so), his ability to spread such hate must be severely limited. This can only truly be achieved through the removal of West from music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.

The reason West’s voice is so powerful is because he captivated fans through his music on streaming services. His fans idolized him, turning him into a larger-than-life figure with a voice that could seriously impact the public discourse.

If West was removed from these services, his audience would fade away because it would be inconvenient to find his music on other, less-familiar services, and people would have to go out of their way to use them.

By doing so, all minority communities would be shielded from West’s disturbing influence West, and he would no longer effectively inspire hatred and hostility against others.

Sam Grossman is an 11th grade student at MAST Academy.