G Herbo visited actress Taraji P. Henson’s original Facebook Watch series Peace Of Mind With Taraji to discuss the realities of gun violence, being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and seeking therapy as treatment. Hosted by Henson and her best friend Tracie Jade, the digital program explores “challenging mental health issues facing us today,” as described in a press release, “through personal interviews with both celebrities, experts and everyday people.”
The Chicago rapper offered insight into PTSD not being limited to military veterans, and discussed using his platform to help others (particularly young Black men) with similar journeys seek mental health services.
“When did you start therapy?” Henson asked the rapper.
G Herbo responded, “About two years ago… At first, I didn’t think it was something I was going to like. I didn’t think it was for me. Just talking to somebody about the stuff I experienced; trauma and overcoming that trauma, and how I cope with it on a day-to-day basis, that was the basis of what we talked about in the beginning. But now we talk about everything. Just me being a father, you know, trying to balance out my career, and all of that kind of stuff all [having] to do with trauma.”
“When you hear PTSD or say it,” Herbo continued, “you just think about soldiers.” Yet the rapper revealed he’s struggled with a post-traumatic “mental slump,” and even experienced depression.
“Yeah, I went into depression, and it had a lot to do with music,” he said, “just me being an artist, and I’m feeling like I’m blocking my blessings, because I’m so caught up in the streets. I got all these opportunities, labels calling me every day, trying to sign me, you know what I’m saying? So, I had to just make the decision to cut everybody off. Like, literally I didn’t talk to none of my friends for like a year… You couldn’t get in touch with me. I changed my numbers and I stayed in the house. I didn’t even go do shows or nothing. I really didn’t post on the internet. I was figuring it out. To be honest, I didn’t even really know what I was doing. I just knew I didn’t want to live like that no more. Just take a leap of faith and say, ‘I’m doing something different. I’m changing my life around.”
Herbo also opened up about losing people to gun violence and being shot himself at the age of 16. The “Cry No More” rapper revealed he could name at least 50 people he was close to who were lost to gun violence, and that he could name 100 people he generally knew who have also been shot dead.
“I was shot… Just standing outside on the corner and some guys just came through in the car, just shooting the whole corner up. Like nine people got shot that day. And I felt one of the bullets knock my hat off. I felt the heat from the bullet on my head. So, I thought I got shot in the head and I was just like, ‘Man, don’t fall. If you fall, they gonna kill you. So, just don’t fall and just keep running.’ But I actually wound up getting shot in my right foot. You really never recover from stuff like that. It’s always in the back of your mind, and you always feel like it can happen again,” he said.
G Herbo also revealed there was a time when he purposefully avoided restaurants and other places where his location could become public knowledge. “That’s how my little brother got killed,” he explained. “Somebody just seen him in the barbershop. He got killed seven days before his 25th birthday. You know, I never let anybody see me with my mom. I probably only picked my little sister up from school one time. I didn’t want to put her in a car with me, ’cause I just felt like my car could get shot up.”
Watch the full episode of Peace Of Mind With Taraji on Facebook Watch here: