Hip Hop Can Improve Health Part 1: Mental Health

Hip Hop Can Improve  Health Part 1: Mental Health

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(Updated)

Earlier on this week i was textin’ my Friend Lyn and in our conversation i told her about “how hip hop can improve one’s health”– well you guessed right she objected it on top of that it’s not her primary listening genre. well her objection made me want to dig up more info and so i landed on this article from  The Independent  by Christopher Hooton. 

Below is the full article:

If your soundtrack to a glum train ride or long walk through an urban landscape is your favourite rap album, you’re probably not alone, with hip-hop being found to boost individuals’ sense of self-knowledge and empowerment through its often dense and introspective lyrics.

A social venture called Hip Hop Psych has been set up by a neuro-scientist at the Cambridge University department of psychiatry promoting the use of the genre to aid the treatment of mental illness, arguing that an awareness of mental health is ubiquitous in hip-hop.

“There is so much more to hip-hop than the public realizes,” professor Becky Inkster told The Guardian. “I grew up in the 90s during the golden era of hip-hop, when it exploded into mainstream culture.

“It is rich in references to psychiatric illnesses that have not been properly explored and which could be of enormous benefit to patients.

 

“We want to work with rappers, charities, medical groups and others to promote its real potential.”

While those with a limited knowledge or experience of depression might suppose that listening to “happy” music would be advisable, it seems there is a catharsis in hearing about other people’s struggles and how they overcame them.

Earlier in the year, a high school teacher added Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid Maad City to his syllabus, an album on which the rapper details how he extricated himself from drug and gang culture in Compton, Los Angeles.

“Many key rappers and hip-hop artists come from deprived urban areas which are often hotbeds for problems such as drug abuse, domestic violence and poverty, which are in turn linked to increased occurrences of psychiatric illnesses,” Inkster added.

“These problems are rooted in their language and in their songs.”

If implemented, the research could see patients seeking therapy asked to write about their feelings and where they see themselves in the future in rap-form.

Inkster criticised the notion held by some that hip-hop is somehow unintellectual.

“Hip-hop in general, and rap in particular, often carry messages that are much more complex than is generally appreciated,” she said.

“That makes it an ideal medium for helping individuals understand their psychological problems and for finding ways to deal with them.”

By Christopher Hooton 


You may not agree with all the views but at least great sense is made here.

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