Mental Health & Rap Music

What is Mental Health? 

Mental Health is the overall well-being of your mind, how you are psychologically, and emotionally. The topic of Mental Health is significant but not universally accepted. There is a lot of stigma and mistreatment associated with it. Many cultures and families deny its existence and shun their own people for having mental health issues. Additionally, when a man has Mental Health issues, he is less likely to be respected and or accommodated due to his issues because of the fairytale description of what men are supposed to be. There are already too many unrealistic expectations of men so throwing mental health concerns in the mix is only going to add hardship to an unfair situation.

What is Rap?

Rap stands for rhythm and poetry. What else is rap, music? How about a place to vent, heal, escape, or cry for help? A place to tell your story, and communicate to the world. It's also a place of therapy! I don't believe in standard/traditional therapy. Although I've gone to that type of therapy many times, I don’t feel it's t for everyone nor do I feel it’s very effective. I do believe in therapy though. For some it’s walking, for others, it’s sparking a blunt. I'm not supporting or opposing therapy styles, only identifying them. Rap was my therapy and I believe it is for many others.

Connecting Mental Health and Rap Music

So how do these connect, what does rap and Mental Health have to do with each other? There are so much that can be discussed regarding this but I'm a horrible writer so I will try to keep it brief and get to the point, lol. There's an article I found that talks about one way they correlate, an article that talks about an actual therapy entitled, "Therapeutic Uses of Rap and Hip Hop." In this article, they are talking about how they use rap as a relationship builder or ice breaker for providing therapy to certain social groups. It's also being used as a technique where using familiarity and discussing a relatable and understandable language that makes sense to this group of people helps achieve therapeutic results. 

But what about the artist, how is Rap Music therapeutic for them? Well for starters it allows the artist/rapper to express themselves freely in their own creative way without interruption. Music is a medium where just about anything goes and not everyone wants to sit in front of a therapist and have an intense personal discussion about their feelings with a total stranger. One-on-one isn't for everybody. So music becomes a place to write out your thoughts and feelings and gives you the opportunity to share it to the world if that's what you choose. It's like journaling but in a much more creative way, it allows you to get things out and stead of holding them in. 

Rappers with Mental Health Issues

• Conway the Machine: He is a well-known 42 year old rapper from Buffallo, NY. In the video below, Conway talks about being paralyzed in the face as a result of getting shot and all the struggles he has gone through because of it. He explains his mind state after the event and how he suffered through it all. He also goes into detail about  all the negativity that surrounded him and reveals what kind of dark place his mind was in. Watch the video, it will really wake you up to the human behind the mic, and after that read about the next rapper I list.

• Kanye West: There is so much negativity that surrounds his name and the kind of things that he does which I think is absolute bullshit. This man is raw and uncut, period! The fact that Kanye has Bipolar or anything else, it doesn't define him. He is undeniably brilliant and creative. I remember when I was young I used to think what if people like us were actually the enlightened ones while those without mental health issues are dulled at the senses. And to a degree, I sometimes feel that this can be true, but not always. Any who.........  Mental health can impair as much as it can enable success; it just seems to depend on circumstances for the most part. I hope Kanye is someone who's more of an inspiration for those who suffer from any type of mental health issue because he is a very honest, caring, and successful man. Check out the video of him being interviewed below.

So now that you have seen just a few people in the Rap Game who have or still suffer from mental illness, what are your thoughts? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below about what you think about this topic. I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to the next blog post!

Just a few more to check out on your own

Eminem
Lil Wayne
Kendrick Lamar
DMX
Chance The Rapper
Kid Cudi
T.I.