ONE RAPPER'S SUICIDE OPENED NEW DOORS FOR DISCUSSION AND THE OTHER EMCEE'S HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY

In 2017, Scotland was struck by another young life being taken to suicide and this time it struck home and impacted the music community not only within Soctland, but worldwide.

Calum Barnes, aka LUMANES was a promising young Scottish rapper who's life tragically ended sending a shockwave through the community sparking conversation about suicide and depression.

The most affected by this event in my opinion was the tight knit community of emcees and musicians within Scotland. Like a family, this group would support each other on and off the playing fields. From sharing opportunities with the media, to sharing stages at events, within the hip hop community the people support each other so losing one of their own was not easy, and is still not an easy thing to handle.

I am posting a new video by another promising emcee from Scotland named Subkonscious who again in my opinion, was one of the most affected people by this situation. Before this tragedy Sub’s was making music that was not the lightest of tunes but also not the darkest of tunes. Now you can hear in his lyrics that this situation has caused great hurt on his soul but he is learning and discovering ways to manage the pain and deal with reality.

I wanted to really touch on this for a minute because the power of music is so important when it comes to healing and it comes to dealing with the situations you face in your life. Music in general is great for this but as a rapper I can only speak for hip hop.

The situation that happened in Scotland was so sad. I had met Lumo a few times in my life so I could not imagine what his closest crew still deals with. I am happy to see that they have turned their hurt and pain back into what they love most which is music and I am happy to see that they are not hiding their hurt and pain from there lyrics.

The song is great and the lyrics Sub’s delivers is great but I don't want to use this article to promote his music whether you like it or not. I want you to know that right now it is so important that you support the artist and the reason he makes his art.

Artists use their art as a way to talk, deal with pain, and make the best of the situations they are faced. Maybe in mainstream hip hop there is no soul behind the words the artists are saying but when you are dealing with hip hop on an underground lyrical level, the things people say are not bullshit. The lyrics may not make you jump all around or put a big smile on your face but these tracks are not made to make that happen, they are made to make you think, and before all that they are made for the artist so the artist can heal.

By supporting this song, you are not just supporting a song and an artist. You are supporting a movment and you are supporting people using music as thier outlet to heal. If people cant express their problems or themselves then suicide is sometimes end result. When an artist makes music and pours thier soul into thier lyrics, thats just a preventive measure so they dont go down the suicide path themselves.

I guess what I am trying to say is, right now with this music.. you are not just supporting music. You are supporting every other artist that wants to jump off a bridge but doesn't because they have music in their lives and that's what keeps their feet on the ground.