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‘I love Kanye’s music’: Nick Cave says he’ll still listen to rapper’s songs despite ‘distasteful’ antisemitic remarks

‘On some level, I don’t care what Kanye has to say on this, but I do love his music,’ Cave said

Inga Parkel
Wednesday 09 November 2022 22:13 GMT
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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 'Skeleton Tree' - 'One More Time With Feeling' Official Trailer

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Nick Cave has weighed in on the Kanye West debate, saying he will still listen to the rapper’s music regardless of his recent antisemitic remarks.

Last month, West made headlines after tweeting antisemitic comments, which led to his brief social media suspension and losing out on his billion-dollar partnership with Adidas.

You can find out more about what West has said and who has called him out here.

“Well, on some level I don’t care what Kanye has to say on things, but I do love Kanye, his music,” Cave said during a new interview on BBC’s Newsnight.

“But, I find antisemitism in particular distasteful. And so it’s very disappointing to hear these remarks and such sort of obvious, boring kind of reductive tropes that he’s actually pedalling.”

Cave added: “However it’s a personal choice as to whether you can go on and listen to that person’s music. I personally can. I love Kanye’s music.

“I feel that he’s done the best music of anybody in some time, the most interesting, challenging, bold music.”

Nick Cave and Kanye West
Nick Cave and Kanye West (Getty Images)

The Australian singer-songwriter’s remarks echo recent sentiments, in which he called West’s comments “disgraceful”.

However, he added that despite the rapper’s problematic statements, he still loved his music.

“‘Yeezus’ and those gospel records… those gospel records are like nothing I’ve ever heard before,” Cave said.

“Kanye, for me, controversially, is, in my opinion, the greatest artist of our generation. I love his music.”

BBC’s Newsnight airs weekdays at 10.30pm on BBC Two.

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