Dear Aubrey Drake Graham,
Drake, you are no longer the one to get the job done. You have disappointed me, and probably thousands of your fans. I had no idea until a Facebook friend of mine shared the Huffington Post’s article, that you released a diss track towards Kid Cudi. You rapped:
“You were the man on the moon, now you go through your phases / Life of the angry and famous / Rap like I know I’m the greatest and give you the tropical flavors / Still never been on hiatus / You stay xan and perked up so when reality set in you don’t gotta face it.”
Now did you write this, or was it your ghost writer?
Kid Cudi posted on Facebook on Tuesday, October 4th, 2016 that he checked himself into a treatment facility for “depression and suicidal urges.” A direct quote from him says, “My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember and I never leave the house because of it. I can’t make new friends because of it. I don’t trust anyone because of it and Im tired of being held back in my life. I deserve to have peace. I deserve to be happy and smiling.”
I understand you guys may have had “beef.” But was his mental state all that you mention? Some comments on the Huffington Post article say, “Drake is officially a clown”, and “[Kid Cudi’s] claims were based on fact. Drake can’t call himself the greatest ever if he has 15 people writing his songs. And the only shot he could take was at [Kid Cudi’s] mental health?!?? Not how the last three of his albums flopped?”
Let me share some facts with you to prove that mental illness should be taken seriously.
- Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.- 43.8 million, or 18.5% – experience mental illness in a given year. Approximately 1 in 5 youth ages 13-18 (21.4%) experience a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children ages 8-15, the estimate is 13%.
- Mood disorders, including major depression, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder, are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the U.S. for both youth and adults ages 18-44.
- Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the U.S. overall, the third leading cause of death for people ages 10-24 and the second leading cause of death for people ages 15–24.
Whether you would like to acknowledge it or not, these statistics included your fans. There will be a teenager, who now is afraid to speak up about his thoughts on suicide, because according to you, it is just a phase. There will be a woman who is now ashamed because her mental illness overwhelms her physical health; some days she can’t get out of bed and she’ll be mad at herself. There will be a man who now feels cowardly for having to take medication for his chemical imbalances.
As someone who has friends and family who have struggled with depression, self-harm, and suicide attempts, let me just tell you, this is wrong. You are further stigmatizing mental illness. You reinforced the stigma that mental illness is a weakness, a flaw, and not the disease it is. No one chooses to have an illness and I’m proud Kid Cudi reached out for help. Now, I am not saying to dedicate a song to him like Kanye did, but don’t kick a man while he’s down. He is a human being just like you and I.
Sincerely,
A Girl Who Cares
Natasha Santana