J Molley an ambassador for mental health

If you are not yet hooked on the ethereal and digitally enhanced vocals of local 18-year-old singer/rapper J Molley, it’s just a matter of time before you are.

This rapidly rising local hip-hop talent first broke onto the airwaves in 2017 with the release of his Dreams Money Can Buy EP which, in addition to showing off his outstanding natural penmanship and ear for paring truly infectious beats with his words, also highlighted his own mental illness with tracks such as Sinister/Paranoia and Suicidal Thoughts.

In the track, Suicidal Thoughts, J Molley sings:
“… Lost my mind today
I’m just sipping all this pain away
I think I might shoot my face today
It’s not a phase, no it won’t go away.”

Despite having an alarming number of people suffering from some form of mental illness or the other in South Africa – talking about your mental health is still considered taboo and is often met with indifference or brushed off with “he/she is just being dramatic or seeking attention”.

According to the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag): “As many as one in six South Africans suffer from anxiety, depression, or substance-use problems, and this does not include more serious conditions such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.”

What’s more, said Cassey Chambers, operations director at Sadag, because “people don’t know where to go to get help, or are too scared to seek it, the statistics we have are still not a true reflection of what is actually happening on the ground”.

This seems to be increasingly evident within South Africa’s music scene, with reports of suicide among local artists becoming more prevalent. In 2018. two of local music pioneers, ProKid and HHP, died – the latter by suicide after a long battle with depression.

Mere months after HHP’s death, rapper Gigi Lamayne hinted on social media that she planned to end her own life. Following her release from the hospital for a failed suicide attempt, she opened up to celebrity gossip website Zalebs about what led to her suicide attempt.

“It was because of a build-up of things in my life, from social pressures to me questioning my existence … I felt like life was a lot. The cyberbullying is something I thought wasn’t getting to me because I’d read things and it wouldn’t get to me, but I guess it went in subconsciously.”

While most people affected by mental illness find it hard to speak openly about the condition, J Molley (real name Jesse Mollet) has decided to carry the torch, not just for his music industry peers but everyone who’s ever dealt with the feeling of isolation and hopelessness that mental illness can bring.

In a recent statement, J Molley said that while his first EP briefly touched on the subject, his latest album “Leader of the Wave” will take the conversation further.

“The album is very thought-provoking. It’s from conversations in my head which were mostly negative, from some negative experiences which have ultimately made me a better person. It’s the rawest form of my thoughts and what goes on in my head. My music is my truth and nothing makes one lonelier than the secrets we keep, I make it a point that in my music, I let it all out.”

Should you or someone you know suffer from mental illness or depression and need to speak to a counsellor, email: zane@sadag.org or call 0800 567 567 / 0800 456 789.

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