Psychiatrists at the Cambridge University department of Psychiatry say the use of the genre could be helpful in the treatment of mental illness.
Professor Becky Inkster told The Guardian:
There is so much more to hip-hop than the public realises, 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.
This group of psychiatrists setup A social venture called Hip Hop Psych to help treat depression patients since they believe Hip-hop carries messages that are much more complex than is generally appreciated.
This is a discovery that could make everyone marvel. At this time that people regard hip hop as an nonintellectual genre, but Becky Inkster refers to those set of people as those with a limited knowledge or experience of depression.
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,and these problems are rooted in their language and in their songs.
“Hip-hop in general, and rap in particular, often carry messages that are much more complex than is generally appreciated,”.
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“That makes it an ideal medium for helping individuals understand their psychological problems and for finding ways to deal with them.”