Mental health is no longer a taboo topic in Hip Hop. What was once hidden behind bravado, coded lyrics or complete silence is now being spoken aloud in interviews, documentaries, podcasts and press runs. These moments matter — not only because they show artists in their most human form, but because they give listeners permission to check in with themselves.
The stigma once surrounding mental illness, especially among Black men and women, is slowly being dismantled by artists willing to use their platforms for truth-telling. On many of the aforementioned mediums, rappers are acknowledging their internal struggles with depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction and trauma. In addition to being transformative for their personal healing, it’s also caused fans to see themselves in the pain.
From childhood wounds to therapy breakthroughs, these artists have used conversation — not just music — to speak life into topics that have long gone unaddressed. Below are some artists who’ve helped shift the culture around mental health in rap by speaking out when it mattered most.
TW: Suicide
1. Kid Cudi
Kid Cudi has long been a beacon for mental health awareness in Hip Hop. During a sit-down with Arsenio Hall, he openly admitted, “I’ve dealt with suicide for the past five years. There wasn't a week or a day that didn't go by where I was just like, ‘You know, I wanna check out.’” That level of candor broke ground in a genre where emotional pain was often buried beneath outward toughness. Cudi later checked himself into rehab and has since used his art and public appearances to advocate for emotional wellness, making him one of the most influential voices on the subject.
2. Big Sean
Big Sean offered one of the most vulnerable looks into his life during a Facebook Watch interview with Michael Eric Dyson, where he detailed his internal battles. He revealed, “I was sure contemplating suicide a lot of times… Even planning it out to the point where like, ‘Hey, if I do kill myself, at least my family will get this amount of money.’” That brutal honesty hit home how high-functioning depression can mask itself in success. Sean credits therapy, meditation and cutting off toxic influences as turning points in his journey and continues to speak publicly about mental health to remove stigma.
3. Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne added gravity to the national conversation in an interview with Emmanuel Acho on “Uncomfortable Conversations.” There, he opened up about a suicide attempt as a child, previously misunderstood as a gun accident. “[I] aimed for my heart. How I knew I had mental health problems was [that] I pulled the trigger,” he said. He explained that the possibility of not being able to rap (he got in trouble with his mother) led him to that moment and credited a responding officer with saving his life. His revelation helped reframe early narratives about trauma in his upbringing.
4. Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion used a PEOPLE interview to detail the unseen cost of fame and trauma. After the public fallout from her highly publicized shooting, she said, “I was such in a dark place, people couldn't even ask me how I was doing without me bursting into tears. I struggled a lot with my mental health.” She spoke about finding healing through therapy, working out, and a small but supportive community of loved ones. Her transparency, especially as a Black woman in rap, opened doors for a wider dialogue around pain and recovery.
5. Logic
Logic brought suicide prevention to the charts with “1-800-273-8255,” but his impact extended far beyond music. In an interview with Billboard, he revealed how the response to that song led to his own internal struggles. “Everywhere you go, the conversation is about suicide — wanting to kill yourself. Every interview, all the time, for a year straight.” He also described dealing with divorce and vitriol from online critics.
6. JAY-Z
JAY-Z’s interview with The New York Times’ T Magazine marked a major shift for the culture. In it, he reflected on therapy’s role in helping him address long-standing emotional wounds and improve his relationships. “The strongest thing a man can do is cry. To expose your feelings, to be vulnerable in front of the world. That’s real strength,” he said. “You know, you feel like you gotta be this guarded person. That’s not real. It’s fake.” For someone often seen as the archetype of control and composure, Hov’s embrace of therapy challenged stereotypes about masculinity and emotional expression in Hip Hop.
7. Ab-Soul
Ab-Soul’s conversation with Charlamagne Tha God was more than promotion for his album, HERBERT, it was a raw disclosure. Along with personal struggles throughout his life (including the loss of his girl and best friend in separate tragedies), a vape addiction gradually led to the rapper’s decision to jump from an overpass in a moment of overwhelming hopelessness. The TDE rapper has since used his music and interviews to explore the attempt on his life and its aftermath, turning personal tragedy into a larger message about survival, mental health and redemption.
8. Missy Elliott
Known for her bold creativity, Missy Elliott gave fans a glimpse behind the curtain in an ESSENCE interview. She revealed, “I think that a lot of things were brushed up under the rug for me growing up, and probably also for a lot of people.” In addition to mental health struggles, she has also been in a long battle with Graves’ disease — and she’s been an open book about both. “Now, I’m fine with being like, ‘Hey, I got anxiety’ or ‘I went through depression,’” she explained. “Even the biggest artist, or just the regular everyday working person, we all go through s**t. We all do.”
9. Chance the Rapper
Chance the Rapper opened up about his mental health in an interview with WTTW News, where he shared, "I’ve dealt with depression, anxiety and a lot of different things,” he admitted. “What helps even though it’s not simplistic is being amongst other people and creating space for your peers to be around you and see you might need help.” As such, Chance also advocated for mental health resources through his own nonprofit and mental health initiatives.
10. Method Man
Method Man revealed in a Men’s Health interview that, when the Wu-Tang Clan’s fame was soaring, he was mentally sinking. “I just wasn’t a happy person. It reached a point where misery was loving company, and the people around me were just as miserable,” he said. He didn't even realize that he was battling depression as a child until he got help. Through fitness, introspection and reconnection with his craft, Meth found his way back — a journey that reflects the silent battles many face behind the scenes.
11. Rod Wave
Rod Wave brought his signature emotional vulnerability to life in an interview with Billboard, where he talked about the pressure of sudden fame. He also revealed bouts with depression and suicidal ideations — a truth that he honors by a “balcony stage jump” that he’s acted out in past shows. “That was from a dream I had,” he explained. “When I come out, walk onstage and look at [the ladder], it’s really to show people, ‘Don’t get up and do that when you can do this. You don’t know where life can take you.’ I’m walking out to a whole arena full of people looking back up at me. Imagine [if] I would’ve [gone through with committing suicide]. I would’ve never made it to this part. There’s a whole meaning behind it — a bigger picture.”