In reality, music is a representation of society and the issues people are going through, so it should be no surprise that rappers have had success with tracks focused on mental health.ĭepression rates are growing across the country and across all ages. If depression has been a subject in hip-hop for so long, why is it resulting in such commercial success now? XXXTencion has many songs about depression still on the charts as I write this and has the first posthumous #1 song. And of course, Ye and the collaborative project between Kanye and Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts. Logic’s “ 1-80” spent 42 weeks on the chart. ” Though, few of these songs had the commercial success of modern day iterations of this genre. The Notorious BIG has a song not so subtly titled “Suicidal Thoughts ,” Tech N9ne has “Low,” and even ruff rider DMX has “Slippin.

There’s no question depression has been a factor in hip-hop for a long time. For example, Tupac’s “Brenda’s Got a Baby” and Grand Master Flash’s “The Message” have dark themes-an unwanted pregnancy and a rough upbringing-but are very different stylistically than Kendrick Lamar’s “ u ,” which is about self-hatred. Music has always been about releasing emotions, and recently the mainstream hip-hop world has turned to the dark-side with what I call “Depression Rap.” Different than cut-and-dried hip-hop, this evolving offshoot of rap deals with introspective negative thoughts generally about self-deprecation, grim emotions, and as heard recently on Kanye West’s Ye, suicide.Īlthough there have been many songs throughout rap history that deal with the topic of depression and mental health, Depression Rap is a genre on its own.

Top depressing tech n9ne songs