Our Depression is Reflecting in Hip Hop – Thinkpiece

Picture a stereotypical high school, one that would be depicted in a movie. Specifically, think about the students in it. You have the sports jocks and cheerleaders, the theater kids, the dancers,  the nerds, the art kids, and countless other cliques. As you go through this list of groups, at some point you’ll get to your goth kids. You know, the ones with the sweep-to-the-side haircuts, dark clothing, piercings and such. Those people are always emotional, hate the world, often times suicidal. They listen to angry music like heavy metal, right?

Now what if I told you that the music those goth kids enjoy would become the mainstream? That it would be listened to by those jocks, nerds, artists, and everyone else like it was nothing. Would you be surprised? How about concerned?

I ask because this is similar to what is happening right now in today’s Hip Hop.

One of the latest young rappers thrusted into stardom goes by the moniker of Juice WRLD. He’s 19 years old from just outside of Chicago, Illinois and is signed to Interscope. He released his debut studio album this year in May and his music’s popularity blew up, mainly because of what he’s rapping about:

He’s sad.

His hit single Lucid Dreams is literally about his inability to cope with a break up. Juice WRLD sings in his verse:

I have these lucid dreams where I can’t move a thing

Thinking of you in my bed

You were my everything

Thoughts of a wedding ring

Now I’m just better off dead

For a song that peaked at #3 in the country on the Billboard Hot 100, those lyrics are pretty sinister. However, this dark nature of the song is masked in a catchy melody and a bass heavy beat. The sadness doesn’t matter if you can sing along and milly rock to it, right?

 

This song in particular made me realize that there’s a current trend in Hip Hop: emo (emotional) rap has become popular. Not “cult following” popular, but mainstream popular. I would likely credit this trend as of late to Lil Uzi Vert because of his song XO TOUR Llif3, which reached #1 in the country on the Hot 100 last year. That track is about Uzi’s broken relationship with his girlfriend. He raps in the first verse:

She say I’m insane, yeah / I might blow my brain out (hey)

Xanny, help the pain, yeah / Please, Xanny, make it go away

I’m committed, not addicted, but it keep control of me

All the pain, now I can’t feel it / I swear that it’s slowin’ me, yeah

When you don’t focus on the hard TM88 beat and Uzi’s enjoyable voice, you realize that the song was very dark. He had the country singing “All my friends are dead / Push me to the edge” like they were regular song lyrics.

Quite obviously, Lil Uzi Vert and Juice WRLD are not the only popular rappers to have emo music; Kid Cudi could likely be called the pioneer of it. He’s been very experimental with his sound over the past decade and has never been afraid to express how he felt, gaining a massive cult following and inspiring so many artists in the process.

Today, emotional rap is often created through a trap beat. Artists such as Trippie Redd, Lil Tracy, and Lil Skies can have that somber, emotional theme to their music. The late Lil Peep could be included with his songs often about his depression and suicidal thoughts. Unfortunately, his life was lost way too soon as a result of a drug overdose last fall; likely trying to escape the feelings he rapped about in his music.

XXXTentacion was extremely important for this subgenre as well. Regardless of how you may feel about him and his actions, his music was emotionally raw. XXX was open about his mental health (or lack thereof), and not only made music for those suffering, but also motivated people to work through their depression. It was something that hip hop had never seen before, someone who wasn’t afraid to address mental health. He also had an untimely death a few months ago as a victim of a robbery gone wrong.

So why is this sub-genre a trend now?

Why did it now become popular to listen to emo rap? I think it’s because this music is a reflection of us currently in society; a lot of us are pretty depressed.

The rate of people being diagnosed with depression has skyrocketed over the past 5 years, especially in youth. People don’t like to talk about it, but this new age of technology and social media has lead to more young people being depressed.

Everyone puts their best version of themselves on the Internet. You post your best selfies, scenery when you’re out somewhere, videos with friends, pictures with your significant other, all good things to show. What you post doesn’t reflect how you really feel about yourself, what’s going on at home, how healthy your relationship might be, or how loyal your friends are. You’re showing what you want people to see.

So in turn, when you’re scrolling through Instagram or Snapchat and see gorgeous people in relationships, happy and having fun with their friends, you can start to feel bad about yourself. That’s when the loneliness and depression can kick in for a lot of people. Emo rap seems to be a product of the people scrolling through their feeds.

When I think about it this way, it’s not surprising that guys like Juice WRLD and Lil Uzi Vert become popular; these artists are making music that people today can identify with. When it comes to all of us jocks, nerds, theater kids, and dancers, maybe there’s a little bit of goth in all of us. Some of the most successful rappers are the ones who are relatable. Take a look at Drake, he’s one of the biggest artists in the world because he knows how to make music about relationships and friendships that his fans can relate to. So if a lot of people are sad and depressed, bring in a Kid Cudi or a XXXTentacion to give them a voice to identify with.

Hopefully, this trend can help those of us who struggle with their mental wellness; provide a soundtrack for those who feel they haven’t been heard.