Mistah F.A.B has been a vocal advocate for mental health, and an unfortunate incident in his life has prompted him to encourage people to check in on their loved ones.
On Saturday (September 9), the Bay Area veteran shared that he had recently lost a close friend of his to suicide. Trying to make sense of his loss, he posted a clip on Instagram in which he reflected on what more he could’ve done to prevent her from taking her own life.
“How many of us are really listening to our friends?” he asked. “How many of us are emotionally available to even see through the smoke screens?”
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In the post’s caption, the 41-year-old veteran wrote: “Sometimes we can’t recognize what bad mental health looks like because some of us do a helluva job disguising it… but if you ever talk to a friend and they use Suicidal trigger words plz take them serious and take into consideration they need to be acknowledged and recognized.”
By referencing his own interactions and experiences, he concluded the video by saying: “Let’s just pay a little bit more attention to each other, man, and keep working, keep building. And the best ability is availability. Just try to be available to each other, man.”
Mistah F.A.B. recently opened up about his own struggles with anxiety over the years, saying he hopes to give other people the courage to seek help. In late July, the Oakland rapper sat down for what turned out to be a vulnerable and emotional interview with NBC.
The outlet spent the day with the “Summer Time” MC to cover his legacy and community outreach events in honor of Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary, but F.A.B. wanted to take a moment to focus on a different topic.
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“Something I wanted to address in this interview, which I don’t think I’ve ever addressed publicly. I suffer from anxiety, like real deep anxiety,” he said tearfully. “And there are times where it feels like the world is closing in on me. The walls shut down, you get hot.
“It’s tough because it’s a multitude of things. It’s hidden depression, it’s the pressures of living up to what you’re supposed to live up to. It’s tough, man.”
He continued: “You asked me If I wanted to do the interview another time and I didn’t. I wanted to address it because there are so many of us that go through this. It’s so many of us that are fighting silent wars.
“I wanna be the example to let people know the money, the fame, the popularity — that doesn’t exclude you from these things. There are still some days where I don’t wanna come outside.”
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F.A.B explained he decided to speak up because he was tired of being secretive about his fight. “I feel like my influence is at a high level, and I could utilize this to help somebody,” he said. “I could utilize this to give somebody the courage to talk about some of the things they be dealing with, and it can help.”
