GAJENDRA PURI GOSWAMI
Hip-Hop’s Two Faced
Stance On Mental Illness
E
arlier this month hip-hop lost one of its most talented
emcees, Mac Miller. Miller, who was only 26, died
at his apartment from an apparent drug overdose
only a month after releasing his latest album ‘Swimming’.
The rapper had always been vocal about his battle with
addiction and depression in the past. But, the severity of his
disabilities were not realized by many until his untimely
death. His death reignited a debate over the surging problem
of addiction and mental illness in America and the rest of
the world. The subject was also at the centre of this year’s
most popular rap albums. Artists who had conveniently
eschewed the debate until now began embracing the
issue and addressing it head on. But, did this sudden
change as a result of earnest intention or a deliberate
attempt to sound woke is a question worth asking.
The first album in this catalogue of conscious albums was
Kanye West’s self-titled album ‘Ye’. The album famously
dealt with the Chicago born rapper’s much discussed bipolar
disorder. The album art for his album, a hilly landscape
with “ i hate being bi-polar, it's awesome” painted over
became a matter fervent discussion amongst his fans.
But, apart from the cover, a laconic reference embracing
his medications, and describing his mental illness as a
superpower Kanye failed to give an open call to the millions
who suffer from his bipolar disorder on his 24 minute album.
beat, and on ‘the cut off’ he illustrates the harm a single
person’s using can inflict on everyone around them.
J.Cole’s album is a thoughtful meditation on addiction that
these times demand. The album is musically refreshing
and socially woke at the same time. Cole’s connection to
addiction and depression is also personal, but so is Kanye’s
connection with bipolar disorder. Yet the latter uses his
illness to morph weighty subjects into headnodders and
deflect the narrative from his careless statements, while the
former uses it to educate people on the ills of these problems.
The album cover for the record depicts a gloomy-eyed king
who hides children smoking pot and sniffing cocaine under
his fur coat. This king might be the new face of hip-hop which,
spearheaded by soundcloud rappers like Lil Pump, carelessly
glorify sniffing cocaine and sipping lean in its music. Or it
could be the modern society which normalises drug abuse
and ridicules mental illness. The course of hip hop in times
ahead may define the way our society will be leading. Whether
it will be lead by men like J.Cole or Kanye and Lil Pump,
only time will tell.
But, Kanye returned for salvation with another album on
the subject titled “Kids See Ghosts”. The co-creator of this
album, Kid-Cudi has been rapping about depression, anxiety
and addiction since 2009. But, even ‘Kids See Ghosts’, a acid-
laced trip into bohemian spiritualism, only loosely dealt
with the subject and didn’t do enough to restore Kanye’s
plummeting popularity. There were moments of redemption
though, most notably on the title track where Kid Cudi
croons- reaching out, huntin’ for the truth / i’m guessing
i’m just sick of running / all this time searching hard for
something..” Cudi’s self-aware lyrics perfectly resonated
with kids suffering from PSTD, depression, and anxiety
who turn to soul-searching through drugs and alcohol to
cure their disabilities. This idea though reflected better
in another hip hop album from this year that dealt
with mental illness and addiction- J.Cole’s KOD.
J.Cole’s KOD deals with addiction more extensively
and organically than any other rapper in the
industry. Cole raps about several forms of
addiction in his 12 track magnum opus. In
‘photograph’ he deals with addiction to
social media by rapping about a man that
falls in love with a beautiful woman on
Instagram, on ATM he warns of pursuing
money too adroitly by delivering a
succinct and catchy hook over a triplet
The
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