Dee-1 has revealed that he skilled ideas suicide following his 2014 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher, questioning if he’d ever have one other alternative to showcase his expertise.
In an interview with The Breakfast Club on Friday (March 1), the New Orleans rapper opened up about his psychological well being struggles and what in the end led him to hunt assist.
“Right after that BET Cypher I started going to therapy, bro,” he shared. “I was signed to RCA at the time. You on the BET Cypher and you think your life about to change after this night…Nothing changed after that night. After that, I felt like I blew my shot.
“It started messing with me mentally to where I was like, ‘Damn, I kinda don’t even wanna be here no more. Not in the industry, but on this Earth…When I started realizing I was having suicidal thoughts behind feeling like I’m professionally a failure, I realized I couldn’t separate David from Dee-1 at that point. And that was unhealthy.”
He continued: “And for the first time in my life, I went to therapy. Because I was like, talking to my friends, that ain’t getting it at this point. Talking to my grandma, rest in peace, that ain’t cutting it at this point. So therapy really did help me, but ultimately even more than therapy was understanding my God given purpose.
“I know who my creator is, I know why I was put here, and I was put here to glorify him. So who am I to think that my whole life is a failure because one moment didn’t elevate me professionally?”
The artist born David Augustine went on to clarify that there was a earlier low level in his life — his freshman 12 months of faculty, throughout which he misplaced an in depth good friend, received kicked off of the basketball staff, and discovered his girlfriend had cheated on him greater than as soon as.
But that troublesome 12 months had a barely completely different affect on him.
“During that time, I coulda found the streets, I coulda found a lot of stuff,” Dee-1 says. “I found God in a real way. And I started rapping. Rapping was my therapy at that time. And when I started rapping, I had a lot to talk about.
“And I was like, ‘Why would I glorify murder when my best friend just got murdered? Why would I glorify smashing your girl, when a couple football players just smashed my girl? Why would I glorify a whole bunch of money that I know I ain’t got when that ain’t how I’m living?’ So from day 1, rap was just an outlet for me to be able to spit reality, but you gotta make that reality charismatic and entertaining.”
The LSU graduate, has at all times been an outspoken advocate for his spiritual beliefs, which in the end helped him discover his function in additional than music.
He’s been constant in his stance towards music that glorifies violence and negativity – and it was for that cause that he couldn’t justify having a Top 5 MCs record when posed with the query again in January.
Dee-1 Questions N.W.A’s Legacy: ‘We Don’t Need To Call You No Legend’
In a section from his Art of Dialogue interview, the Crescent City native defined that he’d primarily be a hypocrite to place a majority of the rappers he as soon as beloved on a high record due to their music content material. However, Nas was in a position to make the reduce as a result of the legendary rapper’s message has advanced.
“I’m to the point now where I realize that I can’t have a Top 5 no more,” Dee stated, “because my Top 5 would have been people who at some point in their life or their career, they were glorifying the stuff that we need to be fighting against.”
He continued: “And that’s something that I gotta be like dang, did they ever graduate from that or elevate from that? If they did, then cool. Nas my favorite rapper. Always been my favorite rapper.”
Editorial observe: Anyone battling suicidal ideas or their psychological well being is inspired to name the toll-free 24-hour Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
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