Art was never made for feeds

Some of the artists from bygone years that we revere today would be rejected in this era.

Fela Kuti would be branded a misogynist,

Bob Marley dismissed as “too woke,” and

Osibisa told to chop their seven-minute Afro-rock jams into TikTok clips.

The forces that nurtured them—consciousness, culture, radio, vinyl, and stages that rewarded experimentation—no longer dominate.

Instead, algorithms punish what doesn’t fit.

Have we optimized art so thoroughly that we’ve gutted its soul?