Ayra Starr Raises Questions About The Limitations of Cancel Culture

Socially conscious internet denizens say that they have the power to mete out justice to erring public figures. They say they can irrevocably deplete the social currency of these transgressors, so much so that they would be reduced to pariahs, outcasts, castaways. Cancellation is the term. To cancel is to render someone an outsider to the virtual reality that has come to at once serve as a complement and an alternative to the physical reality we inhabit. Perhaps they tell themselves and feverishly preach this to wrest a measure of control in a world that has become chaotic and inscrutable in equal measure. Or perhaps it’s a misapprehension that stems from the instinctual desire for a just society, a society where erring members receive instant punishment for their actions, a society where the concept of karma has valence. 

Last week, Ayra Starr posted a video of herself dancing to Naira Marley’s new song. The ensuing drama was not limited to the initial disappointment of seeing a celebrity endorsing Naira Marley, who had been canceled for his involvement in bullying Mohbad and possibly his eventual demise. It also raised questions about the iconography of Ayra Starr, who had until then been one of Afropop’s most socially conscious figures, throwing all caution to the wind—she knew there would be consequences—for a moment of ethically questionable pleasure. 

The adjective “dazed” falls short of describing the range of reactions to the video, but it comes close. The reactions weren’t reproving so much as they expressed shock. Shock that a famed feminist activist had violated the tacit rule of cancellation: don’t engage, don’t support. How difficult was it to adhere to this simple rule? This is a form of activism that doesn’t require marching and hoisting placards. A form of protest that doesn’t involve risking blows from policemen or teargas sprays; that doesn’t involve one’s skin being scorched by the sun or beat by rain or covered in dust. Why would an artist with a long history of advocacy decide to throw in with Naira Marley, a blacklisted scamp? It makes no sense until you zoom out and consider the full picture. 

The story begins to take on more color when you consider that she didn’t just spring out of nowhere dancing to the song. The video had been making the rounds. Everyone from top influencers to the girl next door had tapped the song as a soundtrack to jaunty dance videos or skits. The infectiousness of the song, its prurient allure, and its vivacious drums had triumphed over our collective indignation, Ayra Starr was in a sense merely trailing an audience that had stowed away their sense of justice for the pleasure of participating in a trend. There’s no doubt that, even if just for a moment, the possibility of backlash had fluttered in her mind before she posted the video. And yet, how can anyone point accusatory fingers when they committed the same infraction?

These may seem a rhetorical if pointless question to ask but has cancel culture ever worked? Especially in Nigeria? Name one person who has been successfully canceled. This is not to say reputations cannot and have not taken hits or that certain people cannot be scorned in certain places. There’s however a certain finality that accompanies the invocation of cancellation: to cancel is not to scorn but to banish. Who then has been banished? Threats of cancellation swirled and gusted with verve when Odumodublvck, through a series of tweets, said women deserve to be “spanked” to keep them in check, and yet he remains one of the best-selling artists in the country. Zinoleesky and Naira Marley are supposedly cancelled and yet their songs still wax strong on charts. In the case of Naira Marley, for a while, he appeared to have been canceled. Associating with him or his music was seen as disgraceful. But his latest hit has unraveled the strong stigma against him. Cancellation is a lofty ideal, but when pitted against the desire to enjoy art without being saddled with ethics, it loses its claws.