Source: Victoria McGraw (victoriasaidit) / Radio One Digital
As people continue to be stuck at home during these confusing times, mental health is more important than ever before.
Now, Chicago rapper G Herbo is opening up about his struggles with mental health with the Recording Academy. It began when he connected with fellow Chi-town artist Chance The Rapper and the late Juice WRLD for a track called PTSD a few months ago.
“I got a war zone on the inside of my head, I made it on my own, they said I’d be in jail or dead,” croons Juice WRLD on the chorus as Herbo raps about trying to enjoy the life of fun and riches he’s earned but is unable to do so because a lot of his friends were killed in the process. Chance also gets some bars off about the violence he witnessed growing up that is all too prevalent in Chicago.
But now, Herbo’s mission is to help those dealing with mental health issues and destigmatize the misunderstandings that come with it in Black communities with the Swervin’ Through Stress initiative.
According to Radio.com, Herbo’s new venture aims to provide therapeutic and mental health resources, including a free 12-week therapy-intensive program, to Black young adults (ages 18-25) in honor of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.
“I think people need to treat mental health more seriously,” Herbo told the Academy. “You just have to take these things seriously so more and more people can be aware and more people that could bring change actually want to bring change. That’s what PTSD is [about].”
Stemming from an arrest 2018, Herbo agreed to enter therapy after it was suggested by his lawyer, even though he initially didn’t think he needed it because of normalizing the events of his life.
“I didn’t really think [therapy] was something that I needed or something that was for me…” he explained. “So we don’t think that we’re crazy. We don’t think that we’re suffering from mental illness because we’re paranoid for our life, because everyone around us is paranoid for their life. So we don’t feel like the oddball, and I think that needs to change.”
