Candace Owens has a lot of hot takes on the music industry, but the conservative commentator’s issues aren’t limited to any artist. She recently spoke on Nick Cannon’s Legal Counsel Culture show about the “conspiracy” of labels to push certain black cultural images for maximum exploitation and devaluation. Owens singled out “Sexy Red” as an example, comparing her to other big black musicians of the past like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. Basically, the media star believes this is part of a plan to disparage the black community and peddle debauchery rather than art.
However, this debate is as old as time itself, and even Candace Owens’s astute assessment of how the music industry affects its export and distribution does not fully explore this claim. People like Sexy Red are successful because they find an audience, and audiences listen to her music for a variety of different reasons. Sadly, this didn’t make her receive any less hate online – sometimes from Owens himself – but despite the pushback, she continued to expand her career.
Candace Owens thinks sexy red is part of a ‘conspiracy’
Instead, Candace Owens and Nick Cannon were talking more about diversity and versatility in the mainstream music market. Sadly, her own argument fails to take into account how “sexy red” is part of a larger artistic landscape, which does include figures imitating the likes of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, as well as objects like “sexy red” How more traditionalist criticism of such artists fails to recognize this. This is part of the flaw in conservative arguments against certain artistic expressions. They minimize the responsibility and willpower of the audience and exaggerate what listening to an artist like the St. Louis Divas can really say about you.
Elsewhere, Candace Owens continues to paint other superstars like Jay-Z and Beyoncé as evil within the industry, so her hit streak may never stop. As for Sexy Red, we wonder if she really cares too much about the comments because she’s already dodged the worse ones. But Owens does make some interesting points about industry standards and demographic targeting, even if her conclusion is a misleading assumption.
About the author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer at HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH in the summer of 2022 while completing his bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications at George Washington University. His review of Bad Bunny’s 2024 hometown concert. ) and the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Drake war, or the many moving parts in the case of Young Thug and YSL RICO. In addition to his riveting breaking news coverage, Gabriel puts his concert obsession to good use, reviewing and recapping music festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also cultivated a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscure gems, such as Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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