DaBaby's Comeback Is Proof There's No Such Thing As 'cancel Culture'

‘Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d*** in the parking lot, put a cellphone light in the air.’

In July, rapper DaBaby unleashed a vile, homophobic and HIV stigmatising tirade while performing at the Miami leg of the Rolling Loud festival. Almost immediately, he lost high-profile brand deals, future performances and was condemned by artists across the industry.

DaBaby seemed destined to be discarded as a victim of cancel culture. And then, the Friday before last, he returned to the stage at Rolling Loud – the very stage where he’d hurled ignorant slurs just three months prior, but this time in New York – proving that cancellations are, at best, temporary.

At worst, cancellations lead people to double down on their controversial views and bolster their platforms rather than removing them. 

In the immediate aftermath of DaBaby’s comments, he published a written apology on his Instagram addressing his ‘insensitive’ remarks, which was deleted just weeks after posting. Subsequent statements blamed social media, claimed a lack of context, or spouted more ignorant views, such as stating that gay fans of his do not have HIV or Aids because they are not ‘nasty gay n*****’ or ‘junkies’.

Rather than quieting the chaos, DaBaby fed the uproar surrounding him and seemingly thrived on the controversy. He relished the idea that he was being cancelled – bragging about it in a freestyle rap named Whole Lotta Money, released almost exactly a month after his fateful performance at Rolling Loud.

The video for the single began with a title card reading ‘Starring DaBaby Cancelled Ass’, with the opening lyrics ‘n***** think I’m somewhere cryin’ with tissues / certified, internet or not, I’ll get with you’. 

Rather than taking the opportunity to reflect and learn, DaBaby capitalised on his so-called cancellation to further his career – and his return to the stage shows that his plan is working.

Cancellations, for the most part, are a misnomer. To be cancelled is supposedly to be boycotted by society, ostracised and no longer able to benefit from a public platform – but it’s rare that this actually happens. 

The more outcry they generate, the more their names are pushed into popular culture

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In many cases, cancellations actually boost the platforms of those affected – controversy leads to clicks, after all.

For instance, Chris Brown was supposedly cancelled after being convicted of felony assault – but later capitalised on the incident, even making an autobiographical documentary in 2017 to tell his side of the story.

Or take the case of Kanye West, ever courting controversy, who was seen just last week with Marilyn Manson at his Sunday Service, his religious choir and prayer performance group.

Manson currently stands accused of sexual assault, violence and psychological abuse by multiple women – which he claims ‘misrepresent the past’ and are ‘horrible distortions of reality’ – but in being photographed with someone who’s been ‘cancelled’, West immediately generates click-bait articles and internet rage – all furthering his public profile.

In both DaBaby and West’s cases, the more outcry they generate, the more their names are pushed into popular culture. As they say, no press is bad press – and by calling for cancellations, we actually further their platforms rather than removing them.

Of course, people should be called out for harmful comments and actions but currently we are fuelling the fire rather than dousing it out.

It’s not for me to police people’s tones, but I can’t help but feel that cancel culture is simply another name for public shaming – and our ‘citizen’s arrest’ approach clearly isn’t working.

Perhaps we need to move the goalposts. Our aim should be to hold people accountable for their words and their actions, support those affected and educate those who’ve done wrong.

On Twitter (of all places), there’s recently been many conversations around the concept of ‘accountability culture’ as an alternative – where people are held to account for their actions, while also creating space for dialogue and change.

We need to find more constructive ways of expressing ourselves that stop contributing to those that court controversy

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This culture can be described as a simple change in behaviour: rather than pointing your finger, think of raising your hand to suggest alternative views, direct people to alternative sources and support those who’ve been affected.

In the case of DaBaby, perhaps our priority should have been to counter his misinformation – sharing stories and raising awareness of the realities of HIV and AIDS – instead of mudslinging, which has served only to spread word of him and his ignorant beliefs. 

That said, we shouldn’t prohibit people from expressing their hurt – to do so would be to further marginalise the disenfranchised. It’s also worth noting that for accountability to be achieved, someone needs to understand the human impact of their actions.

There’s no clean-cut solution – but it’s clear that we need to find more constructive ways of expressing ourselves that stop contributing to those that court controversy.

There are hard lines that should never be crossed. Hate speech is hate speech, abuse is abuse, and they should be treated as such. Accountability may indeed come with the loss of privilege or platform, but this should surely be done through more proficient regulation of social media platforms and courts of law rather than through the anger of the masses.

DaBaby will be just fine – as is apparent, music bosses are happy for him to return to performing as if nothing ever happened. They have accepted his non-apologies despite the outcry from those he’s affected, showing that there is much work to be done for the music industry to understand the impact of their actions.

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Frustrating as it may be, we still have options: we can control whose platforms we contribute to, and what causes we amplify.  

A friend once told me not to dance in the flames of fires other people set – and instead focus on the people who have been burned. Rather than fuelling controversies, let’s channel our fury into something more constructive.

Perhaps in shifting our focus from tearing someone down, we can build new platforms for people and causes that matter.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]. 

Share your views in the comments below.

Arrow MORE: The Office showrunner Michael Schur hits out at comedians ‘whingeing’ about cancel culture: ‘They’re lazy’

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Arrow MORE: JK Rowling isn’t being cancelled – she’s just facing the consequences of her own actions

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