[NYAPRS Enews] How Rappers are Putting Mental Health Center Stage in Hip-Hop

[Harvey Rosenthal]

NYAPRS Note: The following comes courtesy of NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray who tweeted "Even hip hop can save lives. Kudos to these artists for putting mental health front and center."
At last week's NYAPRS conference, an evening presentation on "Trauma and the Culture of Hip Hop: Revisited" drew much participation and praise.

How Logic, Lil Uzi Vert, And XXXTENTACION Put Mental Health Center Stage in Hip-Hop
Genius.com  Sep 5, 2017

This year we've seen a spate of rappers talking about mental health-but it's not as new as you might think.

With rappers of all different lanes expressing their views on mental health, suicide is a prominent topic in hip-hop right now. Recently, Logic<http://genius.com/artists/Logic> performed his suicide prevention track "1-800-273-8255"<https://genius.com/Logic-1-800-273-8255-lyrics> on the MTV's VMA stage, bringing many in the audience to tears. Lil Uzi Vert<https://genius.com/artists/Lil-uzi-vert> sang of contemplating death over a failing relationship on his hit "XO TOUR Llif3."<https://genius.com/Lil-uzi-vert-xo-tour-llif3-lyrics> And throughout XXXTENTACION's<https://genius.com/artists/Xxxtentacion> latest album 17<https://genius.com/albums/Xxxtentacion/17>, he raps about the tragic suicide of his close friend Jocelyn Flores.<https://genius.com/Xxxtentacion-jocelyn-flores-lyrics>

However, rappers have been opening up about their battles with depression and suicide for years in their music. With hip-hop now reigning as the biggest genre in music<https://genius.com/a/hip-hop-r-b-surpasses-rock-as-the-most-popular-u-s-music-genre-for-the-first-time>, artists' are using their platforms to not only speak for themselves but to speak for many listeners who feel voiceless. Check out the Genius video that takes a deeper look at the state of mental health in hip-hop

https://genius.com/a/how-logic-lil-uzi-vert-and-xxxtentacion-put-mental-health-center-stage-in-hip-hop
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kilakwa.net/pipermail/nyaprs_kilakwa.net/attachments/20170919/a7a40a10/attachment.html>