Get Your Mind Right: Hip Hop & Mental Illness

Some rappers remove all doubt, bravely opting for transparency when it comes to their mental health. The legendary Scarface opened up about his battle with his thoughts in Ben Westhoff’s Dirty South: OutKast, Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, and the Southern Rappers Who Reinvented Hip Hop, recalling that he tried to slit his wrists with a razor blade at age 12 or 13. He later spent some time in a mental ward at the Houston International Hospital where he was sometimes forced to stay in the “quiet room.”

“When you go crazy in the hospital, they get like five or six big ol’ men to come in there and hold you down,” ‘Face recounted to Westhoff. “They pop you with that Thorazine and you go out.”

This quiet time likely helped the Facemob representative become one of the most prolific rappers of our time. Through his strong story telling abilities, he captivates and escorts fans into the brilliant mind of Brad “Scarface” Jordan. We hear the struggle, the pain and the questions he struggles with when the music stops. While his style is often dark and reflective, there’s a beauty to it. This kind of beautiful struggle resulted in classic songs like “Mind Playing Tricks On Me,” “I Seen A Man Die,” and “This Can’t Be Life,” all beautifully vulnerable pieces of work.

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