Health Meets Hip Hop
The intersection of hip-hop and health may seem like unlikely territory – but the correlation is evident. In 2023 alone, more than 15 notable rappers died due to various causes, including mental health and gun violence. In 2020, XXL did a study, finding that of 77 rapper deaths they examined, more than 40 remain unsolved, including the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, the 1997 murder of the Notorious B.I.G., and the 1999 murder of Big L.
As we enter 2024, we are closing out on a celebratory milestone within the hip-hop music community. In 2023, we celebrated the 50th anniversary year of hip-hop, honoring the August 1973 outdoor party in the Bronx that is recognized as being where DJ Kool Herc first spun his turntables, and hip-hop music first was born. Hip-hop has been changing lives since 1973, and the unfortunate reality is that many lives within hip-hop have been lost.
The hip-hop music community has been privy to a lack of resources and support for many years now, an overarching theme across musicianship as a career. Musicians are nearly three times as likely as the general population to lack health insurance, with the structural reasons including a lack of healthcare. In the U.S.A, most laborers get their insurance through their employer. However, for musicians, the structure of their employment is a lot more complex and varied than for the average American laborer, and many musicians lack structured healthcare and support.
Let’s Talk About It
In 2022, Kendrick Lamar released “Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers,” an album that publications like The Cavalier Daily have referred to as a “cathartic therapy session,” filled with insightful, thought-provoking commentaries and introspective songs discussing themes of therapy, homosexuality, trans rights, toxic relationships, and more. The album was received well by some, but many others have criticized it over the years for being overly-soft and “feminine,” and for “lacking replay value.” Many other artists across the genre who have released albums featuring similar messaging have been greeted with similar responses. Why is that?
Across the genre, there has been a history of not talking about certain “hush hush” topics, perhaps a nod to toxic masculinity in a genre that’s historically been male-dominated. According to Kerrington Dillon, the hip-hop music scene across the board has been in need of better resources, and of better transparency across the board.
“I believe the main roadblock people may feel in the Hip Hop community is the sense of shame. So many people are afraid to express when they are hurting until it eventually makes them physically sick,” Dillon explains.
Kerrington Dillon is the daughter of Wytony “Big Wy” Dillon, one of Inglewood’s most influential rappers. Big Wy was born in 1973, the year that represents the birth of hip hop. Big Wy made his debut as “Red Rag” in 1993 as a member of Bloods & Crips on the album “Bangin’ on Wax.” Big Wy is best known for creating the viral “Teach Me How To Dougie” song and the iconic corresponding dance. We lost Big Wy in June of 2023, but his daughter, Kerrington Dillon, a publicist and music industry professional, is continuing to pioneer his legacy and her own in Los Angeles, where Big Wy pioneered the budding hip-hop music scene.
Proactivity or Reactivity?
At the end of the day, the music business is a business, and it runs off of a profit-based model and structure. Record labels offer and sign deals in order to generate a profit, but sometimes those profit-leaning structures end up affecting more pain than originally intended. In a label deal, the said “product” becomes the artist themselves – a human. When you’re in a record deal, you’re often held to terms and conditions that may end up prioritizing financial gain over other factors.
“When you’re in a capitalistic society, running a business leads us to be more reactive than proactive,” explains Joshua Salmon, “Seeing how far you can push the button.”
Joshua Salmon is a senior at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA who works in the music business as a Strategic Partnerships Representative at Universal Music Group in the °1824 Department. Salmon is also a musician, drummer, producer, and overall creative who’s been working in the music business for the past several years.
“The best thing the industry and artists could do for artists is have a standard – have morals,” explained Joshua Salmon.
“The media does stir this negative narrative that hip-hop is bad for health,” said Joshua Salmon, a senior at Morehouse College. “When hip-hop was started, it started as a genre that was meant to communicate the feelings of Black people…The culture has shifted a lot from what it was in the 90s…We could do a lot less to promote drug abuse.”
“A lot of music in general talks a lot about depressive topics and if we’re not careful, we could promote a depressive culture,” explains Salmon.
On the flip side, though, hip-hop music has been a healthy coping mechanism for many people.
“Hip-Hop has been something that’s been healthy for a lot of people,” finished a reflective Salmon.
“When it comes to our artists, a lot of the times when an artist passes away, people get upset but it’s a one and done,” explains Salmon. “We need to become proactive rather than reactive.”
There is light at the end of the tunnel, however. Organizations like “Health N Hip Hop” look forward to a future where the hip-hop music scene is offered better resources and support for it;s artists and inhibitors. The organization was started by Michelle Locke, an employee at Universal Music Group who wants to be able to “provide resources, knowledge, building spaces and communities where artists can come together.”
Locke’s passion for hip-hop “goes really far back” and during her youth, she
Did not truly “understand the role it would play in her life.” Her current favorite artists are Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Cash Cobaine, Anycia, Baby Blue, Don Toliver, Ciara
Locke discusses the impact of environments on artists wellbeing: “A lot of artists come from food deserts, working with people from these areas, a lot of artists do come from these areas where there are food deserts.”
“That’s really what ‘Health N Hip Hop’ is meant to be, and what I hope it’ll be,” she explains, on her growing platform that she intends to utilize to promote better health across the board in the hip-hop music industry.
“You really don’t see a lot of other genres getting talked about in the way that hip-hop is talked about.” i.e. ‘hip-hop saved my life,’” explains Locke.
Isa Whitaker, an educator, teaches 5th and 6th grade students in Asheville, NC, where he works for a non-profit for urban agriculture, teaches about healthy, been teaching a hip-hop class.
In his classes, he likes to share philosophies from J. Cole and Wu-Tang Clan, bringing their messaging to the youth.
Vitality and Sustainability Across The Genre
“I do think it’s certainly been concerning the last couple years when youre talking about some of the multiple artists at a young age who’ve lost their lives,” said musicologist and music history professor, Dr. Sean Nye, who teaches Hip-Hop History and Culture at USC. “That can cross from violence to mental health issues and drug use as well. There’s certainly a major concern there, in terms of the music industry’s support for artists.”
30 years ago, early contenders of the rap music genre like Common, Snoop Dogg, and Big Wy were in the primes of their careers, enjoying the pioneering hip-hop music industry which began being trailblazer after it’s 1973 conception by some early pioneers who are no longer with us, like Tupac Amaru Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.
Nye cites one of the industry’s issues as “Overcoming the stigma,” and adds: “But, you actually have to have the structural support to get that access in the first place…“Proper compensation, ongoing support, for later generations – feeling supported. It’s a multigenerational question.”
While Common and Snoop Dogg are still with us, many of their peers are not, and they themselves have even begun condemning certain practices and methods within the community. Common recently released his third book, a book chronicling mental health and wellness in Black and Brown communities, and Snoop Dogg himself has started condemning his past actions.
Today’s hip-hop music industry has seen feuds amongst some heavy-hitters including NBA Youngboy and Lil Durk, even seeing some consequent deaths of rappers including Chicago’s King Von, who died in 2020 at 26-years-old in Atlanta, GA, outside of a nightclub. Many rappers have called for an end to feuds and violence across the industry, including J. Cole, a proponent of peace within the hip-hop community, who issued an apology at his Dreamville Festival, for a diss track against Kendrick Lamar.
Who survived and how? What aged people faster? Drugs alcohol lifestyle choices etc
Percentages and Numbers
Seeing the Light: Common on Community Health
Common, one of Chicago’s most beloved rappers, has recently been shifting his focus to health in the hip-hop music industry. Common recently released a book detailing his ever-expanding relationship with wellness and mindfulness: “And Then We Rise: A Guide to Loving and Taking Care of Self,” a tribute to celebrating and encouraging health and mental health in Black and Brown communities.
Common visited USC in February to discuss his newly-formed and ever-expanding relationship with mindfulness wellness, health, and himself. He discusses: “We celebrated the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop – this was the 50th anniversary. It’s been an outlet for [Black and Latino People] – it started in the Bronx with Black and Latino people.”
Historically, Hip-Hop has acted as a major outlet for all, especially for the early Black and Latino pioneers of the illusive musical genre. “It’s been a bridge for all nationalities, to get together and just enjoy this art and express ourselves,” explained Common.
Despite the genre being such a powerful and positive influence in the lives of so many, there is a bleak semblance across the genre – one of pain, violence, and grief, extending back as far as to the early 90s where rivalries between artists caused death and disillusion.
Common refers to the concept of a lack of healthcare being a major source of the issues within the industry that still persist today. “One thing we missed out on, in fact, in music, was support for healthcare,” he explains. “I want you [all] to be taking care of yourself and live the healthiest and brightest and happiest life possible.”
“In Hip-Hop, we have so many of these great artists. They try to find out what to do and, and ok to this, to be a musician and you thought that was gonna be your career,” explained Common.
What happens when you find that your career doesn’t necessarily support your health or offer you the benefits necessary to take care of yourself? This is a common trend within the music business. Where do musicians go, when their career is so “untraditional,” but they still need to be able to take care of themselves?
“The simple thing of health care would have benefited so many of the artists that we’re talking about,” nailed down Common.
“As we age, we feel like one of the things that my mother always used to say to me and I the book also is that stress can affect you, and eating 7-Eleven just like, the health and mental health as well as the fact they are all tied together,” said Common.
“I think the stresses that we have experienced are all going, we could have some if we were not a human. And I think, you know, we missed, we missed it in, in that place. And I hope that maybe, you know, for young artists something like that before.
“You know, this is, this, the industry is not and I’m a big and you just take the on two hands are that you in your lifetime that you’ve changed, stay as successful as, yeah, I can’t even name and even those that might not be as big as the next.
Artists like Common are out in the industry doing work to work towards a more equitable industry. It’s integral to the cause that their voices are empowered, so that the industry and artists themselves know that there are potential solutions and ways to make the industry healthier and more accessible.
“We also need to empower artists in hip-hop who are doing things healthily. Artists who are doing the work,” explains Salmon.
There are certain topics that are hush-hush in the industry, and popularity is one of those that can ultimately affect people’s feelings, emotions, identities, and self-perceptions.
Common reflects on his career, and the fact that he’s experienced many ups and downs across his long and wide musical career: “Ultimately, those emotional roller coasters – being popular and not being popular – affect your emotions too.”
Even right now, there is discourse across social media over who’s “in” and who’s “fell off.” With social media playing such an active role in the lives of this generation, it can be difficult to ascertain what’s real as to what is abstract, and what really matters. To some, social media discourse can inflict real pain and hurt. Others let is slide right off of them – but not everybody is so thick-skinned, and many don’t realize the lasting implications that social discourse can have.
“Mean Tweets” is a series on YouTube that features artists reading tweets written about them. There are editions for each genre, including for hip-Hop.
Looking to the future, Common hopes to be more instrumental in the future of the next generation in hip-hop music: “I think we could do more for young generation students. I mean, I think it’s something I would love to implement with the right people,” explains Common.
Nothin[G] but a Health Thing
After beating his murder case, Snoop Dogg did a 360 of his life, and has changed his narrative ever since, especially in his songwriting and in the musical projects he has put out in more recent years.
“On my second album, ‘Tha Doggfather,’ when I beat my murder case, I redirected my pen to write life because I felt like I had wrote death all up until that point,” explained Snoop Dogg in an interview with DJ Fatman Scoop on Instagram live. “When I started writing ‘Tha Doggfather,’ I lost a lot of fans. I lost a lot of homies because they wanted me to keep it gangsta after beating the murder case. They wanted me to glamorize and glorify, but I was like, somebody’s life was lost. My life was changed. This is a real situation,” Snoop said. “I have actual remorse. I feel bad.”
Snoop Dogg made a decision to stop rapping about “death and violence,” as he refers to in an interview with Rolling Out. In recent years, Snoop Dogg has taken a stance against the violence he used to previously rap about in his younger years.
A Love-Hate, Love-Concern Relationship
Jae Deal is a music producer living in Los Angeles, although he is originally from the East Coast. He’s been involved in the hip-hop music scene for quite some time: “I’ll start with the positive sides: it really drives popular culture, communications. It’s used as a powerful tool for developing self-concept. It’s a revenue generator, it keeps money circulating,” explains Deal.
“It can really be a tool for mental health and can give some alternatives to options that aren’t constructive. Parties instead of gun violence. Graffiti, as an artistic outlet. Dancing, breakdancing, physical health, alternatives to violence. Artistic outlets,” explained Deal.
“Some could argue now that music is less collaborative, with the advancement of technology. It’s interesting that the current state: I have a love-concern relationship with,” explained Jae Deal.
“Some could argue now that music is less collaborative, with the advancement of technology. It’s interesting that the current state: I have a love-concern relationship with,” explained Jae Deal.
Deal brings up a metaphor about on-stage microphone feedback. “As far as messaging and intention in hip hop, is a feedback loop for just a very narrow, niche lane of messages.”
“Too much of a focus on negative subjects, but it makes money – too much focus on making money over quality.”
Community Care
Jared Oluwa was born and raised in Los Angeles to musician parents. He has worked in sync licensing since 2017, which he got into because of previously not getting credits and proper compensation. One of Oluwa’s inspirations is Nipsey Hussle: He had Jared reading books and all, talking to him expanded his experience and elevation in education.
“I would like more artists to be more vulnerable,” he explains, “For ourselves and for our own city.”
“I would like more of a community culture engaged – A lot of people like Issa Rae do a lot of community engagement things.
“We still have older people that are pushing the narrative too. If that’s the elder, the role model, how are we going to help the youth? He wonders aloud. “I think we just need to bring more awareness together.
“When people are going through a lot, they lean on music,” explains Troy Oglesby, Jr., a music producer who also has a tech company, Off The Leash Games, LLC., where he develops games, apps, websites, animation, and more.
“Self-care should be more prioritized than it is,” explains Oglesby. The money, glamor, and fame is higher on the docket – which is unfortunate.
To Oglesby, self-care “It means everything. If you are not right within, there’s no beneficial impact you have on anyone else’s life.
“It’s all for the image, not the art anymore…We’re focused more on being profitable than we are being sustainable” – Troy Oglesby