Kid Cudi opens up about anxiety and depression

American rapper and current Eminem collaborator Kid Cudi is once again using his platform to speak up about mental health. Ahead of a scheduled appearance to speak at a town hall for the launch of the Well Beings mental health initiative on July 14, the musician shared a video statement with People about his own experiences with anxiety and depression, and how music has helped him overcome his struggles.

“When we're young, we face a lot of pressure to do things that harm us. We pretend to be happy when there's a raging violent storm inside of our heart," Kid Cudi said. "Once it was difficult for me to find the words. Anxiety and depression ruled my life for as long as I could remember. I was scared, I was sad, I felt like a damaged human swimming in a pool of emotions."

In the video—which features voice-over from the “Day ‘n’ Nite” rapper over animated text—added he knew he deserved peace and happiness, but he couldn’t figure out how to get there. "It took me a while to get to this place of commitment, to say 'I'm gonna get through this.' To know that we can take our pain and turn it into something,” he continued. “I turn my pain into music. And my music is how I am different. And my difference is my power."

This isn’t the first time Cudi, whose real name is Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, has opened up about his mental health. In a 2016 Facebook post he revealed that he was checking himself into a rehab centre to deal with his anxiety and depression. Two years later he revealed to Billboard that he had finally found peace. “I have so much joy that I don’t feel like I’m fighting anymore. It was this year, around my birthday [in late January]. I’m the best I’ve ever been in my life. I realized I was genuinely happy, and there’s nothing really going on in particular,” the artist told the publication at the time. “Creating is making me happy again.”

Now, he's trying to help others find their own piece. At his upcoming town hall appearance, Cudi will be joined by other celebs like Billy Porter, Alanis Morissette, and Matthew McConaughey to launch the Well Beings public media campaign to help Americans dealing with mental illness, focusing additionally on youth's needs. The event is part of this week's NAMICon—the National Alliance on Mental Illness National Convention which has gone virtual for 2020.

Cudi has also certainly been creating while in quarantine. On July 9 he and Eminem released the new single, "The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady," a song that tackles current events, police brutality, and even rehab. “Years ago, rehab / All good, helped me figure out another plan / It got bad, so bad / Nah, I ain't f---ing love that, man,” Cudi raps in the song.

The song marks Cudi’s third single of the year. In April, he dropped “Leader of Delinquents,” and in March his collaboration with Travis Scott, “The Scotts,” debuted at the top of Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Songs chart following more than 32 million streams and 68,000 downloads.

Meanwhile, the rapper has also been busy branching out to other projects, teaming up with Kanye West for the upcoming animated series Kids See Ghosts, and inking a deal with HBO to star in this fall’s limited series We Are Who We Are alongside Chloë Sevigny, Alice Braga, and Jack Dylan Grazer. This isn’t Cudi’s first jaunt with the cable network though: he also played Francis on the latest season of Westworld, which wrapped its third season in May.