South London born and bred rappers have spoken out about mental health through new released albums and singles. Rappers Krept And Konan have released an album with messages for those suffering mental health after the tragic death of “Nash” a very close friend of theirs. They rapped about his unfortunate passing and how there was no sign of his suffering as a friend. This is an important statement as Krept and Konan have a massive fan base, being one of the top rappers to come out of the south. Mental health within men are at a staggering high with an average of 191,000 men a year facing issues of depression, anxiety and stress. As of 2018 according to Samaritans.org deaths by suicide rose by 10.9%. Another rapper from east London has also spoke out on mental health but from a different stance, from his own point of view. Rapper Ramon Rochester, more commonly known as “Ramz” is a recovering sufferer of depression and has gone through attempted suicide due to this. during his announcement many people did not take him seriously and made him a mockery but, after a few months he released a song “think twice about suicide” where he addresses this issue allowing people to open up and have a different view on taking their lives. The influence of rappers speaking up on this issue has a huge effect on our positions on what mental health really is, especially with the youth who look up to these rappers as a role model, they are able to see mental health as a more serious issue. Mental health is a serious problem, and suicide is never a solution but rather a form of sadness to another person, to people who are there for you.
governments “tackle” on a smaller prison problem
The UK government set to tackle the prison smuggling environment in order to stop things such as phones, drugs, and weapons being smuggled behind bars. The government are budgeting £100 million for UK prisons as part of a “prison security package” but is this really a thing the government should focus on? When they have issues facing the way prisons work such as their ways of rehabilitation. 46% of prisoners according to fullfact.org, re offended within a year of release.
Having stricter rules on what prisoners can have and cannot doesn’t seem to create an improvement on prisoner’s behaviour but rather restricts their freedom for no apparent reason. The UK could rather invest this money in stopping people from actually doing crimes and follow the approach of countries such as Norway. The rooms in UK prisons are “tiny” and do not have enough personal space for reflection, social aspects in prisons are tights and the layout in general for prisons aren’t good for prisoners well-being, such as “the landings are tiny so people will be in your way” (told by an inside source) which can be an issue for prisoners especially those with a much violent nature who can be triggered by breach of personal space.
The prison system fails as their overcrowded and congested buildings don’t see any form of rehabilitation which has been an issue since 1944 with approximately 21,000 people still sharing cells meant for a single occupant within the same space as their bathrooms, money going towards new equipment won’t help the prisoners’ rehabilitation but cause stress and more room for crime behind bars and even when prisoners are released. The government should focus on how to help through psychological and mental health so they can help reduce the rate of reformed crime.