Dee-1 has revealed that he experienced thoughts suicide following his 2014 BET Hip Hop Awards Cypher, wondering if he’d ever have another opportunity to showcase his skills.
In an interview with The Breakfast Club on Friday (March 1), the New Orleans rapper opened up about his mental health struggles and what ultimately led him to seek help.
“Right after that BET Cypher I started going to therapy, bro,” he shared. “I was signed to RCA at the time. You on the BET Cypher and you think your life about to change after this night…Nothing changed after that night. After that, I felt like I blew my shot.
“It started messing with me mentally to where I was like, ‘Damn, I kinda don’t even wanna be here no more. Not in the industry, but on this Earth…When I started realizing I was having suicidal thoughts behind feeling like I’m professionally a failure, I realized I couldn’t separate David from Dee-1 at that point. And that was unhealthy.”
He continued: “And for the first time in my life, I went to therapy. Because I was like, talking to my friends, that ain’t getting it at this point. Talking to my grandma, rest in peace, that ain’t cutting it at this point. So therapy really did help me, but ultimately even more than therapy was understanding my God given purpose.
“I know who my creator is, I know why I was put here, and I was put here to glorify him. So who am I to think that my whole life is a failure because one moment didn’t elevate me professionally?”
The artist born David Augustine went on to explain that there was a previous low point in his life — his freshman year of college, during which he lost a close friend, got kicked off of the basketball team, and found out his girlfriend had cheated on him more than once.
But that difficult year had a slightly different impact on him.
“During that time, I coulda found the streets, I coulda found a lot of stuff,” Dee-1 says. “I found God in a real way. And I started rapping. Rapping was my therapy at that time. And when I started rapping, I had a lot to talk about.
“And I was like, ‘Why would I glorify murder when my best friend just got murdered? Why would I glorify smashing your girl, when a couple football players just smashed my girl? Why would I glorify a whole bunch of money that I know I ain’t got when that ain’t how I’m living?’ So from day 1, rap was just an outlet for me to be able to spit reality, but you gotta make that reality charismatic and entertaining.”
The LSU graduate, has always been an outspoken advocate for his religious beliefs, which ultimately helped him find his purpose in more than music.
He’s been consistent in his stance against music that glorifies violence and negativity – and it was for that reason that he couldn’t justify having a Top 5 MCs list when posed with the question back in January.
In a segment from his Art of Dialogue interview, the Crescent City native explained that he’d essentially be a hypocrite to put a majority of the rappers he once loved on a top list because of their music content. However, Nas was able to make the cut because the legendary rapper’s message has evolved.
“I’m to the point now where I realize that I can’t have a Top 5 no more,” Dee said, “because my Top 5 would have been people who at some point in their life or their career, they were glorifying the stuff that we need to be fighting against.”
He continued: “And that’s something that I gotta be like dang, did they ever graduate from that or elevate from that? If they did, then cool. Nas my favorite rapper. Always been my favorite rapper.”
Editorial note: Anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts or their mental health is encouraged to call the toll-free 24-hour Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
Maybe he can talk all these new rappers into 😵👈 because Hip Hop would definitely be better off without them. I blame all The GayTL for all this nonsense.
dude just seems like a rap outsider to me. I get a lot of what he’s saying about why he decided to rap a certain way. But if he’s not from those places and doesn’t have those experiences why would he want to? As far as bragging and boasting on the mic since when does all that have to be accounted for in the corrupt white world where there’s always a plot twist? So what if they gave Drake an airplane because white girls like him. That means no one black can brag and boast on the mic anymore. Rap is filled with idiots both fans and performers.
So what if they gave Drake an airplane because white girls like him? That means no one black can brag and boast on the mic anymore???? Now we have rappers with real cash everything else fake and no skill on the mic whatsoever.
But he is “from those places.” He’s from the hood in New Orleans. He’s not from the suburbs and he’s not from Canada. He chose not to go that route in real life before he ever had to make that choice in real life.
love for you to get shot dead in Canada this summer. come on up
@listener A this guy is some 35 year old ex gifted student. the fact that he’s not a billionaire’s son doesn’t make him a ghetto kid that grew up in the worst slums. so shut the fuck up please.
@sad – Not sure if anyone has ever told you this, but gifted students can also come from the ghetto. He’s from East New Orleans, which has the highest crime rate in NO.
So fucking what? He’s not a ghetto kid anymore. He graduated from LSU. He’s a grown man TODAY. But stfu regardless. You idiots want to act like coming from some loose area means you ate roaches with your cornflakes. being black and coming from a US city doesn’t make you ghetto idiot. Everybody who grew up in Crown Heights BK didn’t come from any ghetto. Ghetto situations living in slums makes you ghetto.
@sad – you make no fucking sense and seem to change your argument whenever your idiocrasy gets called out. You’d be the poster child for ADHD warnings to parents….
@fuckouttahere You get caught with your pants down white boy and have nothing else to say other than nonsense. I’ve never once heard this dude say he was a ghetto kid that came from any slums. you’re a fucking clown and rap groupie weirdo.
rap didn’t come from no fucking slums. it came from black communities – some were poor others just black. only these fucking white frauds want to insist that we are all slum dwellers or even worse liars who haven’t “suffered enough” that’s the flip side of these cocksuckers trying to rank your suffering as a black man. that’s what they buy and sell every day on social media. slum ranking.
@sad — ahhaahaha.. you sad little dimwit, you’re the idiot who brought up where he’s from only to be proven wrong by a 2 second google search. Look how easily you’ve been triggered to now change your entire argument up about race. Does it require a bout of down syndrome to understand your point?
idiocy loves being idiotic and stupid. this guy went to private school. his parents are college professors. nowhere in any of his bios does it mention any slums any ghetto any kind of hot boys upbringing. please shut the fuck up completely goofy
“Hailing from New Orleans East…..” – it’s literally at the top of his wiki bio. The two worst ranked cities in New Orleans in terms of crime are Pines Village and West Lake Forrest. Both are in New Orleans East. His IMDB profile also states: “Born and raised in the heart of New Orleans, Dee-1 shared the same struggles as the legendary artists that put the 504 on the map”. He has an album called from the Hood to Harvard. He didn’t go to a “private” school he went to a charter school. Anyone who knows jack shit about our education system knows the difference between a private school and a charter school. Got anything else you’d like to be wrong about today?
you’re an idiot. posting ten paragraphs won’t stop that. where does it say he grew up in the projects? where does it say he lived in slums? why would he write about gangs and drugs if he had a mom and dad who are college professors who care about him? you’re an idiot who think america is some rap prize. win stupid games get stupid prizes. He’s a grown man now. Just fucking idiots on here -straight clowns and anti-black agitators
He doesn’t write about gangs or drugs because he doesn’t want to glorify it, that’s the fucking point of the article. You seem to think because he doesn’t want to write about that that, in your words, “he’s not from those places” – for the 10th time it’s been pointed out to you, he IS from there. All his bio’s (wiki, IMDB, Spotify), that he has a hand in writing, state where he is from. His album titles do as well (From the Hood to Harvard). How have you made it this far in life when simple things need explained to you?
you’re a white clown looking for attention. trying to act like this guys is something he’s not. it would be easy enough for him to say “I’m from the slums” “I lived in the same projects as little wayne” “I never knew my dad we was on and off welfare until I dropped out of school” anyways come up to Canada where you can get shot in the face.
Props to him for trying to make positive music. He’s got some good songs, and I liked the collab album with Murs. But it’s just too much religious talk for me to want to put him on constant repeat. That’s more of a me thing, I suppose…