Styles P is becoming one of the leading voices in Hip Hop when it comes to conversations about mental health. The Lox member has dealt with trauma throughout his life, including losing a family member to suicide.
Tai Styles passed away in 2015 at the age of 19. At the time, Styles P released a heartful statement about the death of his child. That Instagram post ended with him expressing, “We lost a daughter but gained an angel.”
The New York-bred emcee reflected on that personal loss during a new interview with Ebro Darden for Apple Music’s The Message. The conversation centered around the celebration of World Mental Health Day on October 10.
“I’ve lost a daughter to suicide. And thinking about mental health, I probably look at it different from most people,” said Styles P. “She didn’t have signs, didn’t see it, didn’t know, she never had no attempts, no anything. Most people don’t know how other people feel.”
He continued, “Really, at the end of the day, even mental health specialists, even the experts, a lot of people don’t go around asking people how they feel or expressing how they feel. And with understanding that, like you said, I’m pretty sure most mental health experts have to go through some sort of specific training or class to keep their mind state intact.”
Styles P also spoke about how someone’s mental health can be affected by comparing life situations with other people. His comments echo the ideas connected to Social Comparison Theory.
“I think the average individual doesn’t look at their own life, what they’re going through and measure it on their own scale without comparing it to someone else and how they feel and what’s going on and what they should do, what they should not do, and what makes them tick. A lot of us aren’t in touch with ourselves to even be mentally healthy,” offers Styles P.
Today in honor of #WorldMentalHealthDay , I sat down with @stylesp & filmmaker @hezuesr to talk about mental health and helping get kids off the street through their @sicfilmschool.
— the Old Man Ebro (@oldmanebro) October 10, 2022
Listen to #TheMessage on @AppleMusic: https://t.co/98zs0PTP9W pic.twitter.com/ZuyHTQeZR8