Art & Politics: Do the two mix?

My emphatic answer is YES! For me art and politics go hand in hand. Art is a platform in which politics can stand and be understood. In an earlier post I wrote about the rise and fall of my beloved Eminem after his freestyle about Trump at the BET Awards.  Em is still getting backlash from that. People are saying that Eminem needs to stay out of politics and stick with music and these comments are not just said about Eminem but also about other celebrities who decide to use their voice and status to bring light to certain issues that otherwise wouldn’t be heard. People who make these commenta are quite frankly ignorant. For one, Trump isn’t the first president that Em went ham on. Does no one remember his deliberate attack against former president George W. Bush in his song “Mosh”? In my opinion music has always been political. I can think of many artists/musicians who have written songs with a political message. I think of rap groups like N.W.A and Public Enemy and artists like Pink and there are so many others. I just don’t understand people who think that celebrities shouldn’t use their platform that they have to make a difference. I believe any form of art can be political you just have to know how to use your voice.