…use the lyrics and music of artists such as Nas, Tupac and Kendrick to help tackle issues surrounding mental health. In a recent article, Sule and Inkster explain how Kendrick Lamar’s major-label debut album good kid m.A.A.d city (2012) provides profound narratives relating to mental health themes, such as addiction, depression and psychological resilience.
“Listening to Kendrick Lamar might help mental-health practitioners and other professionals to understand the day-to-day internal and external struggles of their patients,” the authors write. “Hip-hop might also be a way for young people to understand and consider their own vulnerability, resilience, and life choices in a culturally relevant and easily accessible manner.”
“When I was on that tour bus and things is happening back home in my city or in my family that I can’t do nothing about, it’s out of my control, [and to] put it in God’s hands, I couldn’t understand that,” Lamar revealed of moments when he was on the road and not able to be in California to help his friends and family members. “That can draw a thin line between you having your sanity and you losing it. This is how artists deteriorate if you don’t catch yourself. And my release therapy is music.”
The song portrays Kendrick’s character as one whose desperation for mental “numbness” and social approval is leading him to a path of alcohol dependence. Or in contrast, one whose pre-frontal cortex – the area of the brain responsible for controlling our behavior – is fighting against alcohol dependence (“if you do not hear me then you will be history, Kendrick”.)
For those who are battling with depression or even suicide, please find help here.
Rapper Kendrick Lamar Opens Up About Depression & Suicide was originally published on blackdoctor.org
