When it comes to the life of an artist, or anyone famous for that matter, it is almost always a daily struggle for them trying to fight with what comes with that fame. The main reason is the thought of always having to live up to high expectations from their fans and the people they work with. Once they have a certain signature, they are always expected to reciprocate that and are ostracized when they don't give it. Because of that, they either go to a means of substance abuse to momentarily get away from it all, or they just give up. In Jean-Michel Basquiat's case, he did both. .
An artist's major fault, I believe, is forgetting who they are and where they came from once they reach that fame stage; sometimes they want to win it all, and that is what ultimately ruins their life. Winning is not worth any price at all, because you could end up losing everything you worked so hard for in the beginning. Friendships, relationships, family; all of that can be gone in an instant and you believe that what you gained as an outcome is far better than what you had before. Personally, I would never choose fame over my friends or family because fame is momentarily, but friends are almost forever. If I ever did become famous off of something Im great at doing, I wouldn't become someone I wouldn't like myself. I would stay humble just because of the fact that I came from humble beginnings, just like Basquiat did. But, fame does have a way of changing people into something they were better off not being. .
As I said before, its a daily struggle for artists to fight the urge to let fame and fortune consume them. Some don't; but others, like Basquiat, do. Once you change, you end up leaving behind those are you care for most. I personally feel that Basquiat wasn't justified in how he treated his friends; it really shows that he indeed let fame and fortune get the best of him. Despite that, he also didn't have an obligation to bring his friends along with him because it was his choice after all.