One of the safest assumptions to make concerning musicians is that they are assholes. They behave boorishly, crave attention, act selfishly, suffer from a wide array of addictions that cripple their ability to interact with others in an acceptable manner, believe themselves to be more important than normal people, and so forth. There are many possible explanations for why this is. It is conceivable that the environment associated with being a successful musical artist warps one’s personality. Given that most if not all musicians are surrounded by people assuring them of their genius and that there are veritable armies of women (and men) desperate to fuck them, it is not a surprise that most music stars become egomaniacs. An alternate hypothesis is that individuals are attracted to the rock star lifestyle because it allows them to express socially unacceptable personality characteristics they already possess – their inner douche bag, if you will. There is some evidence for this theory. After all, one must possess a confidence bordering on presumptuousness to assume people want and will pay to hear their music. Regardless of its genesis, the prickish nature of successful musicians is a fact. Below I present two case studies of jerkass artists from two ends of the musical spectrum, and how their bad attitudes affect popular, as well as my personal, perceptions of them.
Even if you disagree with my thesis that most musicians are twats, there is no denying that Axl Rose, front man of the very loose consortium of musicians known as Guns N’ Roses, is a tremendous asshole. Contesting this fact is like arguing against the idea that the Earth is round; it’s indisputable. He is a douche both in his role as a rock star (showing up tardy to concerts or not showing up at all; walking offstage when every little thing was not to his liking, causing an actual riot in the process) as well as interpersonally (two ex-wives report various forms of psychological abuse; he’s such an asshole that even the heroin addicts and sex fiends in his band were repulsed by him, and left; he tried to fistfight Tommy Hilfiger). Dealing with Axl Rose can be most accurately and concisely summed up with his own words, from Guns N’ Roses’ cover of Nazarene’s “Hair of the Dog”: “Now you’re messing with a son of a bitch.”
Yet, in spite of these epic displays of dickery (as well as the decade-plus long incubation of Chinese Democracy), Guns N’ Roses, and by extension Axl Rose, enjoys a generally favorable reputation among both critics and fans. While most of the glut of late 80’s hair bands are sneered at by everyone besides Chuck Klosterman, critics have hoisted Guns N’ Roses to a comfortable position in the rock n’ roll pantheon. And it’s not as if Rose is apologetic for his various and sundry antics; he’s an asshole, he knows it, and he doesn’t care. So why the general acceptance of this behavior by critics and the music listening public? Because “Welcome to the Jungle” rocks your ass, that’s why. I’ll elaborate more in the conclusion, but I would first like to move onto my second case study.
A few summers ago, some friends and myself went on a road trip which may or may not have culminated in burying someone in a shallow grave in the Nevada desert. As three young white men from the middle of the country, we of course had copious amounts of rap music with us. While listening to Kanye West’s “Stronger,” I observed that I couldn’t understand why some people didn’t like Mr. West, a claim at which my friends bristled. I explained that his lyrical prowess, clear flow, ear for great beats, and his heightened sense of self awareness should excuse him of some of his peccadilloes. Then, just a scant few months later, he’s on live television acting out middle America’s greatest fear (besides Muslims): a clearly inebriated black man mugging a young white girl.
Rap music, moreso than any other genre, is full of arrogance. A sociologist would probably tell you it comes from having to be outwardly hard to survive in the cutthroat hood, and the need to possess an alpha male attitude that conveys confidence and toughness – I believe they call it “swagger.” Whatever the reason, it is an intrinsic element of hip hop. For example, any rapper you can think of has probably, at one time or another, referred to themselves as the greatest rapper alive. Resident hip hop expert Legal and Tender recently listed a number of douchey things that rappers do. To add to that list, some rappers put forth the idea that their greatness transcends the material world and go as far as likening themselves to deities (Nas and Sean Combs have a video in which they are crucified in the same manner as Christ, and Jay Z’s nickname is Young Hova, the latter part of which is short for Jehovah, the name of God). But even in this miasma of douchebaggery, Kanye West stands apart. He’s done the whole “compare myself to Jesus” thing (see this Rolling Stone cover). He’s called out the highest authority in the land in front of millions of home viewers and a mortified Mike Myers. He’s implied in that song with that tool from Maroon 5 that HIV was created in a lab by whites and unleashed on Africans. He’s made fans wait hours for his show to begin so the stage crew could finish mounting his elaborate and unnecessary props. And, of course, he’s rushed the stage at multiple awards shows to air his displeasure with the results. All of these things make him not only an asshole, but quite possibly the most high profile asshole in hip hop music.
On the other hand, unlike the dick moves of his hip hop peers, I feel like West’s asshole antics are more about his vulnerabilities than his desire to be seen as a hard ass. After nearly every incident of questionable behavior, he apologizes. Most of the time, it seems sincere. I mentioned before that West has a greater degree of self awareness than others in his industry. This is evident in “All Falls Down,” where he acknowledges the emptiness of the types of material things for which hundreds of rappers have pined, and how he feels forced to live in this hollow existence. Take, for instance, “Man I promise, I’m so self conscious/ That’s why you always see me with at least one of my watches” and “It seems we living the American Dream/ But the people highest up got the lowest self esteem.” It’s hard to imagine someone like 50 Cent expressing similar sentiments. As a result of this level of introspection, I think West has some sort of grasp on who he is, and why he does the things he does. I think he knows that he’s a manchild, and that he is actively struggling to contain his raging id (check out this video directed by Spike Jonze that seems to support this thesis). He seems to lose that battle more often than not, but the idea that there is an internal conflict and that his impulsive actions lead to regrets is enough to engender some measure, however small, of sympathy.
Ultimately, however, I excuse him for the same reason I excuse unrepentant asshole Axl Rose: because I like the music he makes. As long as someone is producing vibrant, interesting work, they can basically get away with murder. In some cases, musicians can literally murder someone and popular opinion of their work doesn’t change. No one dislikes the piano coda of Eric Clapton’s “Layla” because its composer killed his mom with a hammer, nor does anyone complain about Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” production because he’s bugshit insane and shot a woman. There is a limit to how much we can allow, although that line certainly varies from person to person. A perfect illustration of this was the recent death of Michael Jackson. Pretty much everyone agrees that Thriller rules, but the public was split between venerating Jackson as musical Christ and demonizing him as a voracious pedophile. Similarly, some people actually can’t enjoy a Kanye West or Guns N Roses song due to the odious personalities of the artists, and I suppose that’s as legitimate a reason as any to dislike a musician. Personally, I can generally separate the artist from their end product. What are your opinions?
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