Renowned Ghanaian rapper M.anifest has disclosed that he uses music as a tool to fight depression.
This follows recent conversations about depression affecting entertainers, with the likes of the late South African rapper HHP, Pappy Kojo & E. L sharing their experiences.
“I’m fortunate enough to have something that is easy for catharsis, that’s music, so when I’m making music I can put pain, I can put joy, I can put all these things into them so it helps a certain level of release.”
“I tend to be a person who also likes to be by myself so I can understand how being depressed is, because I do not want to talk to people sometimes,” the ‘Someway Bi’ hitmaker said on Starr Drive Wednesday.
The ‘Nowhere cool’ singer added that “for me I’m fortunate that I have enough key people around me who I can be vulnerable around and not feel the need to be putting up appearances as to who I am. I think the hardest thing about feeling pain is not being able to share it honestly with certain people.”
The rapper advised people out there who have issues with depression to seek help and support.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Don’t let these people mock you because ‘they want to get retweets for twitter’,” he added.
Commenting on the death of HHP, he said “It was a devastating loss. I have many fond memories of him. He was always warm and embracing. Since I met him in 2012, I always like to tell people the first time I had a conversation with him, we weren’t just talking about music. He asked me ‘are you cool? Do you need a barber etc.’ and he took me to his barber.”
He added “he just was human at that level. He had a depth to his humanity where he opened himself to a lot of people, and gave to a lot of people from Cassper, to myself, to all these people so it’s quite a devastating loss.”
M.anifest opined that “I think there are challenges that sometimes we all face when we are in our own little quiet corner feeling challenges and not knowing how to deal with it. Different people have different personality types.
“Those of us who are artiste types are more prone to depression. We are more prone to feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders, we are more prone to feeling pain with an intensity, feeling the depth of darkness.”
“Sometimes we have to figure out ways to get support systems and also people should not be so dismissive of people. And he [HHP} spoke of issues of depression in the past and people thought it was just a cry for attention.”