Hip Hop’s Growth of Mental Health

Spencer T.

World Literature & Composition

Period 3
April 3, 2023
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Most of the time, mainstream hip hop music was not in depth about the artist’s health or

the problems in the world that people face. However, everything can change over time and hip

hop is no exception. This topic can be very interesting because you can see hip hop's evolution

and how certain artists have impacted it. In what ways have the lyrics in American hip-hop

music changed over the last twenty years to reflect mental health issues in society? Over the last

few decades, “mainstream” hip hop has evolved from an era of “Gangster Rap” in the early

2000’s to a style of art more focused on the artist instead of the world around them both lyrically

and sonically.

The shift in hip hop’s lyrics started in the early 2000’s, when more relatable and personal

topics like family, religion, and schooling were incorporated into lyrics, which would lead to hip

hop being a more open and transparent genre. Around the early 2000s, mainstream Hip Hop had

lost the value of its lyrics as many argued, “A widespread sense that the verbal dexterity and

poetry of hip-hop was waning” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). One of the first

albums to change the narrative on lyrics was Kanye Wests 2004 debut “The College Dropout”.

Compared to the violent and self-praising lyrics of most mainstream hip hop from the time,

Kanye took a different view, “Changing the rules of hip-hop by encouraging listeners to

identify with him, rather than simply observe his life from afar” (Opie). The college dropout

was one of the first mainstream projects to change what people listened to hip hop for, both

critically and commercially as the album “Went 3x platinum and received ten Grammy

nominations” (Opie). Kanye’s debut album impacted the landscape of hip hop to include less

braggadocious and material topics. “The College Dropout” would pave the way for artists to talk
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about whatever they wanted and that they could become household names in music. While it was

still not the most popular thing to rap about, The College Dropout’s lyrics of relatable, personal

issues and mental health demonstrates how rappers could share their own thoughts and emotions

through their own songs. The album would help hip hop shift past gangster rap in the 2000s.

During the late 2000’s, hip hop’s soundscape helped orchestrate a massive shift in its

lyricism. On his 2008 Album “808s and Heartbreak”, Kanye West once again evolves hip hop, as

he “Demonstrates a meaningful emotional vulnerability on this album, the likes of which had

not been seen before in mainstream rap” (Pillai). “808s” would go on to debut at #1 on the

Billboard top 200 albums. This shows that “808’s and Heartbreak” was one of the first major hip

hop albums to have deep and personal lyrics and storytelling, as Ganesh Pillai of Assad College

writes, “Through ‘808s and Heartbreak’ West welcomed the rap game into a new world—one of

greater intimacy, vulnerability and creativity”). 808’s and heartbreak was new and influential to

rap music because of the sound. Through its sound, the artists of the next generation would

incorporate the lyrics and narratives of 808s as well as the sound. Around the late 2000’s to early

2010’s, mainstream artists and albums started to focus on the artist's mental health and it would

influence the next generation of artists. The year after, Kid Cudi release his debut album “Man

On the Moon: The End of Day”. The album featured heavy topics like drug addiction and

drinking, along with Cudi’s mental health problems at the time. Mescudi tries to put himself in a

more vulnerable position to the listener. Mescudi says “I try to think about myself as a sacrifice

just to show the kids they ain't the only ones who up at night” on the albums second track,

“Soundtrack 2 My Life”. “Man On The Moon” would later become certified four times platinum

and would be the #4 album on the Billboard top 200 its first week. This shows that Kid Cudi and
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his 2009 album “Man On The Moon: The End of Day” focused on his mental health problems

and through himself would help listeners with the same problems. Both “808s and Heartbreak”

and “Man On The Moon: The End Of Day” were both incredible risks at the time due to them

featuring mental health problems as the primary topic of the album, and were also two incredibly

successful albums from the late 2000s. The success of both records indicates that people were

finally starting to want more hip hop albums with more personal topics.

After decades of growth, hip hop in the late 2010’s and 2020’s has become a genre that

accepts mental health issues and problems more than ever before. 14 time Grammy Award

winning artist Kendrick Lamar claims “'’I've never expressed myself the way I expressed myself

on this album ’” ( Jackson) When talking about his 2022 album, “Mr.Morale and the Big

Steppers”. This shows growth from one of the biggest mainstream rappers, and the genre that

follows him. Kendrick made his 2022 album to open up to the public about what was going on in

his life and what he was dealing with, as Mitchell Jackson of the New York Times claims “[Mr.

Morale and the Big Steppers] is framed as a therapy session and covers, among other weighty

subjects, Kendrick's grappling with his ID and ego, with generational traumas, with his

responsibilities as a leader” ( Jackson). Kendrick’s story and message is told through the eyes of

a character called “Mr. Morale”. The character helps Kendrick explore his mental health because

his vulnerability leads to the more personal and story-telling music he makes as Mr.Morale.

Mr.Morale and the Big Steppers would debut at #1 on the Billboard top 200 and later win Best

Rap Album, and would be nominated for Best Album at the 65th Grammy awards in 2023.“In

2017, the rapper Logic named a song after the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone

number: ‘1-800-273-8255.’ The song was a hit, detailing a conversation between its subject and
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an operator on a hotline and went on to crack the Top 3 of the Billboard Hot 100” (Sundaresan).

The quote shows how suicide prevention and mental health were topics that could rise to the top

of the charts, even above other genres like pop and rock. People are willing to listen to hip hop

music about mental health. “1-800-273-8255” by Logic was one of the most popular songs in the

world when it released and was at the top of the charts. “Mr.Morale And The Big Steppers” won

awards and gained national recognition with mental health and therapy at the forefront of the

album’s stories. The reception of both proves that mental health and depression is now as popular

a topic in hip hop as anything else.

Ultimately, Hip hop has become a more transparent and open genre in the past 20 years

due to artists creating albums that prioritized a more personal and relatable connection to the

listener instead of boasting about what they had. Some additional questions I still have could be

about the first instances of mental health issues in hip hop (before the 2000s). Another question

that could be explored more is why mental health has risen so highly in recent years in hip hop

compared to other genres. Some more areas of research that I or others could do could be

exploring other genres of music and their storytelling with similar issues. Listening to hip hop

has always been normal for me, and now looking into the issues and personality shown in the

lyrics makes me appreciate the artistry even more.

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Works Cited

Alexander, Robert. “A Man Named Scott.” Mad Solar & Film45. 2021.

“Hip-hop | Definition, History, Culture, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Mar. 2023,

www.britannica.com/art/hip-hop/Hip-hop-in-the-21st-century.

Jackson, Mitchell S. "Kendrick Unbound." The New York Times Magazine, 1 Jan. 2023, p.

22(L). Gale In Context: High School,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A731855110/GPS?u=dist214&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=ea18b6

dc. Accessed 23 Feb. 2023.

Opie, David. “‘The College Dropout’: How Kanye West Changed Hip-Hop Forever With His

Debut Album.” Highsnobiety, 11 Feb. 2019,

www.highsnobiety.com/p/kanye-west-the-college-dropout-changed-hip-hop.

Pillai, Ganesh. “The Impact of 808s and Heartbreak’ on Modern-day Rap.” The Miscellany

News, 8 Apr. 2021,

miscellanynews.org/2021/04/28/arts/the-impact-of-808s-heartbreak-on-modern-day-rap.

Accessed 7 Mar. 2023.

Sundaresan, Mano. “Logic’s Song ‘1-800-273-8255’ May Have Led to Hundreds of Fewer

Suicides, Study Finds.” NPR, 28 Dec. 2021,

www.npr.org/2021/12/28/1067880209/logic-1-800-273-8255-suicide-prevention-lifeline.