Get Your Mind Right: Hip Hop & Mental Illness

Removing The Taboo From Mental Health Discussions

“I wanted to throw you in the trunk, and find a preacher for you / ‘Cause I thought you had unlawful demons on you / Sinkin’ fast into deeper soil / Your parents finally got you some help / You came out seeming normal / And I heard you on medication / Had an illness you couldn’t heal with illness or meditation / And believe me / Me and T3 kept it low / Don’t take it as a diss, this is just to let you know / That I love you / But watch the company you keep / Swearin’ niggas don’t care but they love you in the streets / Get ya mind right nigga…” –Elzhi, “Reunion.”
While most fans aren’t privy to the mental health status of their favorite rappers, those in the industry certainly know something. As the above rhyme illustrates, both Elzhi and T3 struggled with how to approach their friend and fellow group member Baatin. And they laid those struggles down on wax long before journalists started putting recorders in their faces. 
“You’ve got people that have been dealing with it for years and it’s just a secret,” T3 added. “And then they have an episode, and everybody goes, ‘How come we didn’t know?’ I sit and talk with artists that I know—I can’t say their names, but they’re extremely famous—and they say they’re dealing with the same issues. But they take their medicine so they don’t have an episode. It’s definitely an issue.”

Mental illness is complicated. There’s often shame and guilt associated with not being able to control your thoughts. Judgment and ridicule have undoubtedly kept some rappers silent about their illness, a condition that was likely brought on by genetics or environmental factors. As the country becomes more transparent about mental illness (especially in the wake of the tragic mass shootings) Hip Hop should follow suit. Rappers should be given the freedom to tell the whole story because there’s usually an appendix to the struggle. Fans need to hear that part too.

Lakeia Brown is a freelance writer living in New York. Her work has appeared in publications and websites like Essence, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, New York Newsday and TheRoot.com.

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