Big Sean is opening up about the emotional toll Nipsey Hussle’s death had on him, revealing that he fell into a “very deep” depression that ultimately pushed him to step back from the music scene.
During a conversation with Linsey Davis on ABC News’ podcast All Access — alongside Usher — the Detroit native was asked about choosing to publicly discuss his mental health, a subject he noted is often viewed as “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,” Sean told Davis. “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.”
Describing the moment as feeling like he “hit a wall,” Big Sean said he knew he had to “climb over” it before it completely crushed him.
“I had to rediscover myself,” he admitted. “I didn’t even know what I liked anymore. I didn’t even know what I was into anymore. 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.”
To pull himself out, Sean said it took a mix of reconnecting with his faith and stepping away from the spotlight. Referencing the four-year gap between Detroit 2 and Better Me Than You, he explained, “I had to put myself first.”
“[That moment] taught me how important the mind, body and spirit are, how interconnected that they are,” he shared, adding that he focused on truly “taking care of myself, my diet, being in the gym, taking time to meditate, taking time to have fun.”
Sean also stressed how vital it is to embrace joy. “You got to be serious about having fun, because as fast as time goes, we’re here for a limited amount of time,” he said. “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.”
Sean previously honored Nipsey Hussle in the video for their final collaboration, Deep Reverence. The Hit-Boy-produced track appears on Sean’s Detroit 2 album.
