Kid Cudi Has Always Led by Example When It Comes To Mental Health Awareness
Mental health and rappers are two terms that you might not expect to see in the same sentence. However, more and more rappers are opening up about their mental health issues- whether it’s Kanye West who lives with bipolar disorder, DaBaby who’s dealing with the grief of losing his brother, or Kid Cudi who’s been very open about his struggle with mental health.
Kid Cudi has experienced depression
Kid Cudi has it all — amazing musical talent, a stellar rap career, countless fans, and a handful of awards for his amazing work. However, like almost 51.5 million Americans, according to the National Institute of National Health), Kid Cudi struggles with his mental health.
On Billboard’s Red Table Talk, Kid Cudi explains how he struggled to self diagnose and fix his sadness. Although he initially suspected stress to be the root of the issue, he soon realized that he needed professional help to treat his unhappiness. According to Billboard he said, “It took me a minute to realize there was something wrong with me.”
Checking into rehab
In a 2016 Billboard article, Kid Cudi details how he used drugs to deal with his depression. However, the drugs only made his problems worse. In a Revolt article describing Kid Cudi’s roundtable discussion on Jada Pinkett Smith on Red Table Talk, he describes not being able to open up to his friends and family about his mental health struggles. He states “I really went out of my way to keep what I was going through hidden because I was ashamed.”
People magazine describes how Kid Cudi first opened up about his experience with depression through a message to fans on Facebook in 2016. In this message, Kid Cudi opened up to fans about checking himself into rehab due to his experiences with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
The show must go on
After his time in rehab, Kid Cudi then talked about his mental health journey in an interview with Billboard magazine in 2018. In this interview, he described how his passion for creating new music and working on new projects has brought him large amounts of joy. In a later interview with People magazine, Kid Cudi says “I turn my pain into music. And my music is how I am different. And my difference is my power.”
MTV describes how Kid Cudi’s collaborative project with Kanye West, Kids See Ghosts, was partly influenced by Kid Cudi’s struggles. Talking about his song Reborn, Kid Cudi describes how the song is perfect as both Kanye West and him have been “reborn” after what they both had been through. Reborn is truly the highlight of the album as it allowed Kid Cudi and West to open up to their fans about their personal struggles.
Spreading awareness about mental health
Kid Cudi has been very active when it comes to spreading awareness for mental health. It all started with his Facebook post opening up to fans about his depression and anxiety. However, Kid Cudi has continued to talk about his struggles and his journey in interviews and through his music. Kid Cudi also gave remarks at the Well Beings virtual town hall- an event aimed at increasing awareness and helping people who struggle with mental health issues.
In fact, according to Revolt, a fan pointed out that Kid Cudi has even been featured in a psychology textbook. This is due to his impact on spreading awareness for depressive and bipolar disorders while advocating for effectiveness of treatments.
Kid Cudi just released a new album titled “Man On The Moon III” which is the third installment to the Man On The Moon trilogy. He is also currently working on a new album collaboration with fellow rapper Travis Scott.
If you or anyone you know is feeling depressed or suicidal, please talk to somebody: You can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860; or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text “START” to Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or in Ohio, text “4HOPE”. Alternatively, consider using the Lifeline Crisis Chat at www.crisischat.org.
