As I hit sit here in recite the lyrics to "Fuck Love" by X and Trippie Redd, my mind pondered upon how society has reacted to this young man's death.
Some people are acting heartless and deciding that his death was meant to be because of his extreme form of domestic abuse of his cheating girlfriend.
Others are grieving because of how meaningful his music was in their life as they struggle with anxiety & depression, similar to the artist himself.
As a moderate in this case, I have understood both sides of the argument but only found clarity when I compared him to many of our other fallen inspirations.
MIchael Jackson, Tupac Shakur & Whitney Houston.
All great artists, all great people but there's a common narrative that they all share.
Not a Grammy or a Nobel Peace Prize, but they all lived supposed "sinful" lives.
Just as MIchael struggled with his child molestation allegations, so did Whitney with her heavy cocaine usage.
We all know why Tupac was hated.
HIs image.
That's where him & X are identical.
Following Tupac's death, many people were torn between the argument that he had it coming after portraying his "Thug Life" or he didn't deserve what was done to him because of his large impact on society.
Do we forgive or forget Tupac's wrongdoings?
Here's the kicker though: We wait till they're dead and gone to reflect & post our unpopular opinions but while they're alive we turn a blind eye to it simply because we like their sound in our cars or at parties.
Prior to X's death, I wasn't a huge fan because of the charges he was faced with but ironic enough, I loved how much emotion he put into his music.
Whether that include vulgarity or clarity, his sound impacted you regardless.
One thing I failed to consider while he was alive was this scenario:
"If I listen to his music, do I support his life apart from the album?"
The answer is no.
We listen to all of our professors day in and day out but we're not aware of how their life spans out when it's not displayed right in front of our own eyes.
Some of them just may be drug-abusers...alcoholics...satanists for all we know.
Does that make their message invalid?
No sir.
It is unfair & contradicting if we wait till someone has passed away, to attempt to justify it with their bad decisions.
Take one small step into their shoes.
They already have a responsibility & priority to please the senses of millions of people across the world, but at the same time keep a morale that is acceptable.
Seems quite impossible to me.
Do not misunderstand me. I do not support what X did to this woman, not one bit of it is okay or justified.
Nonetheless, this man was a legend in this industry & should be respected as such.
RIP Jahseh.
