Big Sean recently revealed that he suffered “very deep” depression because of the 2019 shooting death of fellow rapper Nipsey Hussle, and that caused him to take a hiatus from music.
Per Complex, the Detroit rapper, whose real name is Sean Michael Leonard Anderson, touched on his past mental health struggles during an interview with Linsey Davis for ABC News podcast All Access. Singer Usher was also on the podcast.
Big Sean spoke about the topic when he was asked about why he chose to publicly speak about his mental health issues, which is something that is deemed “very taboo in the Black community.”
“I was just sharing what was going on in my life. I didn’t realize that I was being so vulnerable. I wasn’t trying to be a spokesperson for mental health per se,” the Blessings rapper said. “I was just expressing how I was, and was going into therapy and experiencing a time of heavy ups and downs, a time of depression.”
Big Sean said that period of his life seemed like he had “hit a wall,” adding that he ultimately had to “rediscover” himself.
“I didn’t even know what I liked anymore. I didn’t even know what I was into anymore,” he added. “I had been so about my work that I lost touch with the person that I was. So, I think that led to a very deep battle of depression, deeper than I experienced when I was a teenager.”
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To recover from that phase, Big Sean took a break from the music industry and prioritized himself.
“I had to put myself first,” Big Sean said, making mention of taking a four-year hiatus after the release of his Detroit 2 album in 2020. He did not release another album until Better Me Than You in 2024.
“[That moment] taught me how important the mind, body and spirit are, how interconnected that they are,” Big Sean said. He also said that he learned how to “take care of myself, my diet, being in the gym, taking time to meditate, taking time to have fun,” Complex reported.
On the fun aspect, the 37-year-old added: “You got to be serious about having fun, because as fast as time goes, we’re here for a limited amount of time.”
“We got all these goals, all these dreams, but what if this is our only time to actually experience this friction and experience these feelings while we’re in our bodies,” he continued. “There’s so many lessons in that time that I learned in my life; so I’m just happy to be here.”
Nipsey Hussle featured on Big Sean’s Detroit 2 album, providing a verse on the Deep Reverence track. He also eulogized Nipsey in the music video.
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