Lil Wayne Speaks Candidly About Mental Health & Past Suicide Attempt

Lil Wayne got candid about his struggles with mental health in a new interview.

BYCole Blake
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Legendary rapper Lil Wayne opened up about his history of struggling with mental health and even attempting suicide as a child, in a new interview with Emmanuel Acho for his series Uncomfortable Conversations. Wayne says he came into the interview with the explicit goal of helping any of his fans who are struggling with mental health problems.

As for when Wayne first realized he dealt with mental health issues, he answered, "As a kid, around 10, when I was told I couldn't have what I wanted, what I dreamed of and what I desired, and that was to rap. I was willing to die for it."

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After that, Wayne reflected on a time when he was 12 years old. His mother had found out he was lying about school and he knew he was about to get punished. Before his mother could get home, he got her gun and held it to his chest, and pulled the trigger. While the gun wasn't loaded, Wayne says he fainted from shock.

The new conversation with Acho isn't the first time that Wayne has discussed his mental health in public. In 2016, on Solange's song, "Mad," he spoke about suicide. “When I attempted suicide, I didn’t die," he said on the track.

Check out Wayne's new interview below.

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About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.