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Battling Mental Health with Lyrics

Kaycie Poyner
Music & Culture IRL
Published in
9 min readDec 13, 2022
Collage by Kaycie Poyner

Do you ever feel alone? Well, you might be surprised to know that about 73% of musical artists are considered depressed according to Dr. Randolph D. Sconiers. With that being addressed, this includes fan favorites in the industry such as Eminem, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and Chance the Rapper. When discussing mental health, the human population usually imagines individuals who are visually sad and unmotivated, rather than these “big names” in the industry. As the population visualizes rappers, hip-hop artists, DJs, and MCs, they typically see them as rich, invulnerable, and powerful when in reality, they could have scary thoughts similar to any average non-famous person during a mental health battle.

Diving into the analysis of Eminem first, let’s look at a little background on him and his ex-wife, Kim. Both struggled mentally as they were severely addicted to opioids. He wrote about Kim in several of his songs and spoke about his depression as a famous artist. After listening to his song “Beautiful,” which was released in 2009, one could infer that his depression was at one of its highest points.

Lil Wayne also struggled with his mental health. When he was only 12 years of age, he was at home by himself, and he took a gun and shot himself in the chest (Eacho18). He felt at that moment that life was pointless and this was his only way out of his battle. “The cops stepped over me as they were looking for drugs, except Uncle Bob, he saved my life” (Lil Wayne). Uncle Bob is how Lil Wayne refers to the cop as he was the only one that seemed to care at the moment about this young man’s life, rather than drugs or weapons in the home. He was the only one that stopped for him. “It was in that moment that I realized that I am here for a reason” (Lil Wayne).

Nicki Minaj is another big name who has struggled severely with her mental health. According to Pearce, Minaj’s father tried to kill her own mother by burning their house down to the floor. “I kept having doors slammed in my face. I felt like nothing was working. I had moved out on my own, and here I was thinking I’d have to go home. It was just one dead end after another. At one point, I was like ‘What would happen if I just didn’t wake up?’ That’s how I felt. Like maybe I should just take my life?’” (Nicki Minaj). Even one of the most popular female rap artists, Nicki Minaj has her insecurities and doubts. Her heart was broken, and she continued living her life through her creation of characters and is now famously known as “Nicki Minaj” (Breakfast Club).

Each of these inspirations has struggled immensely but was fortunate enough to find their shared outlet, music. With that being said, life is hard in general. One can never identify the traumatic, difficult, or life-threatening events that may or may not head their way. However, each of these artists and thousands more have stayed. They stayed to see what will happen next, to create more music for their fans, to show more representation in the industry, they stayed for you, the listeners.

As a listener, you are not only keeping the artist here, but you are also never going to be alone, as they have also been at the same point as you. Everyone feels alone, including them. At the end of the day, each of us is winning our battle with mental health as every second passes. There will never be a moment where it is just you struggling in the world, as many of us, including artists, do too.

“As the researchers pointed out, rap songs about mental health that talk about getting support and treatment can help raise awareness and encourage young people to seek help” (JAMA). These artists are often accused of “glamourizing” their mental illnesses. In reality, the majority of these rappers and hip-hop artists want their audience to know that they have been dealing with the battle too. Even with all of the money, fame, and expensive lifestyles, that does not necessarily change the way that they feel deep down.

With that being said, just because these artists may have had it easier or worse than you have based on their childhoods, traumatic events that have happened to them, etc., does not make your struggles any less important. These artists have found their outlet of creating music, with the intent of listeners hearing it and understanding their story. A quick reminder for anyone to realize that they are not alone might be to blast music in the car, in your headphones, air pods, or your phone.

“Listening to sad music is great for your mental and emotional health” (Pineda). With several research studies backing this data, I encourage you to listen to these given artists when you feel alone. Never hesitate to reach out to anyone, even if you just rant or tell them how you are feeling. It could not only save your own life, but it could make the individual listening to you know that they are never alone either.

Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

It is okay to not be okay, and it is never too late to ask someone for help. Anyone could need help during a hard time, everything will be okay.

If you or a person that you love is in a crisis or needs to talk to a professional, then call the suicide lifeline: SMS: 988.

If a crisis has already occurred, and you were informed about the scene, dial 911 immediately.

If you are struggling and have nobody to talk to during a mental breakdown, then you could also call the California Peer-Run Warmline for mental and emotional support at (855) 845–7415.

If you do not want to speak out loud, then you can discuss your crisis over text messages:

Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Counselor.
You will be asked about what your crisis is, and connected with a professional as soon as humanly possible.

There will always be people here for you, you can win this battle just like these musicians do on a daily basis. This is your life, go live it!

“Beautiful” by Eminem (2009)

Eminem discusses his mental health by opening his first rapping verse with “I’m just so f**ing depressed.” In the song, he mentions that rap is his outlet for his depression, talks about waiting for his dad to show up (he never did), and loses his sense of humor. He spreads these feelings to his audience through the chorus by mentioning the idea of walking a thousand miles in his shoes to see how they would end up. The message he was trying to get across to his listeners was that they are beautiful no matter what has happened, “and to the rest of the world, God gave you shoes to fit you…even if it sounds corny, don’t ever let no one tell you, you aren’t beautiful.”

“Suicidal Thoughts” by The Notorious B.I.G. (1994)

The Notorious B.I.G., better known as “biggie,” raps about his thoughts of self-harm within this release as he mentions his want for death. He provides his depressive justification by mentioning how the female figures in his life would be glad he is gone, such as his mother, sister, and baby mama. The context he provides in this song is as if he is already perished, at the end listeners hear “Please hang up, and try your call again, please hang up this is a recording.” Not to mention biggie also discusses that he is being sent to hell, “it doesn’t make sense, goin’ to heaven with the goodie-goodies, dressed in white, I like black Timbs and black hoodies.” One could infer that he released this song to remind his viewers that even as a famous rapper, he still has these scary, unwanted thoughts at times.

“I feel like Dying” by Lil Wayne (2009)

Lil Wayne discusses his addiction in this 2009 release that the chorus is the following, “only once the drugs are done, that I feel like dying, I feel like dying.” He is implying that he only wants to be alive when he is on drugs, as he mentions that when his dealer runs out, or if he runs out, or if he is coming down from his high then he “feels like dying.” “I am a prisoner, locked up behind Xanax bars,” although he is addicted, he knows that he is a prisoner to the drug as it is one of the only things that keeps him here. Through the verses, he discusses what it feels like to be on drugs, and he wrote this single to remind his listeners that addiction is real and they tie into being in a depressive state.

“So Many Tears” by 2Pac (1995)

2pac, or Tupac, raps about hating where he is at in life being that his chorus entails him telling the lord that he has shed “so many tears and has lost so many peers.” “I spend my time in this cell, ain’t livin’ well,” he is mentioning his time in his cell and how he feels like he lost years by being trapped. 2Pac also feels like a failure and tells his listeners that, “I know my destiny is Hell, where did I fail?” With that being said, this release was intended as an outlet for the rapper to rant, as well as a display to his viewers that even being famous, he still struggles in life.

“Slippin” by DMX (1998)

DMX opens this release by laughing, and listeners then hear his first line, “see, to live is to suffer but to survive, well, that’s to find meaning in the suffering.” He is displaying to viewers that he has suffered during his time with his chorus including the following line, “ay yo I’m slippin’ I’m fallin’ I can’t get up.” This implies that he feels like he cannot go on, as he “can’t get up,” however, he soon raps “to find my way and now I know that happy day are not far away.” He says this to remind his viewers that he hasn’t given up, and they shouldn’t either despite the hardships that they have been through and even being famous, he still has these inner depressive thoughts.

Mental health is a battle regardless of who an individual is, whether their problems are considered big or small, their own mindset has a great impact on the way in which people perceive the world. Even the most famous hip-hop artists struggle with their inner thoughts and tend to discuss this in their releases to spread awareness. I believe that the music in which these performers release can be beneficial to remind listeners that they are never alone, and anyone has the ability to feel their true feelings despite what they have. My audience could incorporate individuals who are currently going through a hard time, and it is significant to provide them with the necessary tools in case of a crisis, as well as remind them that it is okay to be sad because look what these famous individuals turned their heartbreak into. We as a community have the ability to spread awareness and be there for our loved ones. If you know someone is battling with their depression, check in on them, tell a trusted adult, or call the hotline when in a crisis. If it is an immediate crisis then you absolutely have the right the call the authorities because there are treatment options out there. Power is something that each person holds with them, they just have to embrace it, and we as a community have the opportunity to save lives, express gratitude, and make the world a more enjoyable place to be in by being individuals that we, ourselves can count on, as well as others. I will commit to being someone that others can count on while maintaining my own mental health because that is what is best for me and my community.

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Kaycie Poyner
Music & Culture IRL

Written by Kaycie Poyner

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