Many male musicians had spoken up about their struggles or shown support for others during the Men’s Mental Health month of November.
Dave, a rapper from South London and Yungblud, an alternative indie singer from Doncaster, Yorkshire, not only used their social media platforms to speak on it but used their music to further speak about their own mental health struggles.
Dave’s debut album PsychoDrama was created following therapy sessions he attended discussing his mental health. In the album, he touches on his mental health, his strained relationships, and his feeling toward his brother who was convicted of murder in 2010 and is serving a life sentence.
Yungblud used his art and social media to advocate not for his own diagnosis but for other less spoken about mental health struggles.
Youngblud’s song “God Save Me, But Don’t Drown Me Out” is about struggling with depression. During an earlier interview with NME, Yungblud said he struggled with his mental health and more so when people were “not understanding what you’re going through”.
Singer and Songwriter Rag’n’bone Man starred in a documentary created by the mental health programme Man Down. Rag’n’bone Man was among a group of other Bristol artists who participated in the documentary in which he discussed touring and the struggles he faced. The documentary premiered on May 5, 2022 at the Cube Cinema. this is a snippet of the documentary.
Another artist who spoke about their mental health struggles was Wes Nelson who discussed the issue during his sets at the Ndubz concerts promoting the new song he wrote when he was struggling with his mental health. His new song “3 Words” was released on November 18.
Mental health among men is something that is rarely touched on enough. Three times as many men die from suicide than women do. According to a survey by the government’s national well-being, men report lower levels of life satisfaction than women.