Mistah F.A.B. has bravely opened up about his struggles with anxiety over the years, saying he hopes him speaking out will give other people the courage to seek help.
The Bay Area rap legend sat down for what turned out to be a vulnerable and emotional interview with NBC on Tuesday (July 18).
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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.
“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,” Mistah F.A.B. said tearfully. “And there are times where it feels like the world is closing in on me. The walls shut down, you get hot.
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“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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The Oakland native said he decided to speak up now because he was tired of keeping his struggle a secret.
“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.”
Mistah F.A.B. is just the latest rapper to open up about his mental health struggles. T-Pain and Saweetie have both spoken about their struggles with depression and anxiety in recent years, with the latter saying she experienced severe “mental breakdowns” in the wake of becoming a famous rapper.
“I try to take things day to day. Sometimes I can’t look at my calendar on my weekly schedule because it’ll give me anxiety,” she told PEOPLE in 2021. “I feel like what I’m working for is starting to pay off, so I’m just really grateful to be acknowledged.”
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Although Saweetie said she’s grateful for her career success, she added she still struggles with the insane demands of being a popular artist in the industry.
“It’s like, I live, sleep, eat and breathe music and business,” she said. “It’s just trying to find balance right now. I have no balance. Everything is just work, work, work and I don’t have an outlet.
“I don’t have a therapist. I don’t hang out with any of my friends because I work so much, so it’s just trying to thug it out into until the New Year.”
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As for T-Pain, he said during an interview on The Daily Show last November that he wants to become a spokesperson for the mental health struggles of artists.
“As much as you try to create the perfect world around you, no matter what you do — you can have charities, you can do all these great things — you’re still going to have these downs because there’s no magical world in the multiverse that everybody is happy all the time,” he said.
Mistah F.A.B.’s heartfelt interview comes after he squashed his beef with fellow Bay Area rapper Yukmouth following a bad spill the Luniz member took while performing at the History of the Bay festival in California.
After Yuk’s injury, which required surgery, he made a call to F.A.B. from his hospital bed in an attempt to bury the hatchet.
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“Get over it, my n-gga! I don’t know what the fuck happened, get over it! Please,” Yukmouth pleaded. “We had some shit that happened like three years ago, get over it, bro. We past that, man. Salute to you, [we all] talk shit about you, good shit. Get over the shit, boy. Period.”
He continued: “When n-ggas got money, n-ggas shouldn’t be worried about nothing else but getting money, right? That’s what you been on, right? So why even worry about it. Come on.”
F.A.B. replied: “I ain’t worried about that shit. As long as you good, man.”
