In case you missed it, June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month. A time to reflect beyond the commonplace “Men should not be afraid to cry” aphorism, looking out for our fathers, brothers, husbands, friends, and acquaintances, and raising awareness around the societal stigmas and pressures that dissuade men from expressing themselves. While this year’s celebration hasn’t been as widespread as it could be, there has been a considerable increase in corporate inclusion. Many organisations have run campaigns speaking on mental health struggles, how to find help, healthy coping mechanisms, and ways to create safe spaces within male settings.
As part of this celebration, Culture Custodian has compiled a list of 15 music projects that explore various themes of men’s mental health and the reality of being a man in today’s world. Everything from navigating hustle culture to fatherhood, substance abuse struggles, understanding positive masculinity, and the philosophy of self-belief is included in these 15 projects—down to the bonus picks. Note that these aren’t self-help LPs and EPs, but projects where the artists address mental health in some detail. We hope you enjoy listening!
A Study on Self-Worth: Yxng Dxnzl – M.I Abaga
Yxng Dxnzl is the Nigerian mental health tape, if there ever was one, cutting across both genders, but especially suited to the male experience. In 10 oddly titled tracks, M.I preaches platitudes on body positivity, groupthink, self-validation, and bearing personal burdens. He deconstructs the image of the Chairman using a therapy session motif, 4 years before Kendrick’s Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers. And when this culminates in a vulnerable exposition of overwhelming vices on the Niyola-featured The Self Evaluation of Yxng Dxnzl, it’s wading in the water towards a healthier state of mind.
Superiority Complex – Ozone
“It’s OZ.” Back in 2014, Aristokrat Records gave us the cult classics that are this album and Mojeed’s Westernised West African. Both explore the instability of being an aspiring star in Fashola-era Lagos, but while the latter is heavier on themes of debauchery, Superiority Complex contends more with what it means to keep believing in one’s talent, and all the roads, and otherwise, that lead one to fame. That 3-track run from All I Know to Purple Trees is an existential daydream—a honest look into the minds of many creatives even today.
The Yellow Tape EP – Abstraktt
On the intro to this EP, I Act Like I’m Okay, Abstraktt touches on everything from escapism, working hard to afford his needs, how betting is affecting his friends from UNILAG, and the effect of the 2023 elections, setting the tone for the rest of what was surprisingly one of the best debut projects of 2024. He dispenses advice on keeping the family close on Don’t Step On My Toes and raps a short, heartwrenching verse about struggling with internet validation on The Internet Don’t Like Me.
Madina to the Universe – M.anifest
The man from Madina, Ghana, doles out gems on this standout African hip-hop project. A stellar supporting cast that includes Ladipoe, Adekunle Gold, Moliy, Vic Mensa, Patoranking, and Tiggs Da Author aids his voyage through personal life experiences and observations. On E No Easy, M.anifest has a conversation with a struggling old timer about living through struggle. On Best For You, he takes accountability, aspiring to be a better man for his family against the delusions of internet commentary; pairing with Poe’s rhymes about familial expectations and the image of success. And then there’s Weeping Clouds, which you just have to experience for yourself.
Festival Bar EP – Davolee
Let the records show that this is some of the best autobiographical work done using music. Unlike the others on this list, Festival Bar is singular in subject matter. It’s more or less 4 tracks about Davolee’s journey as a rapper in 2020. Pure storytelling, no theatrics. As to why it qualifies for this list, Davolee manages to capture his story with a sincerity that would make male safe spaces so much more efficient if we just took the chance. Plus, it’s good hip-hop.
Clone Wars IV: These Buhari Times – Show Dem Camp
Every other day, there’s someone on the internet clamouring for Ghost and Tec to release “These Tinubu Times” as a continuation of their Clone Wars mixtape series. With tracks like Respect, Loyalty & Honour, Duade, Packaging, and Everything I Love, you can understand why, especially with regard to this listicle. Honest bars on performative masculinity and rebuffing society’s expectations of who you are as a man, spliced with lamentations on the state of Nigeria.
Some Nights I Dream of Doors – Obongjayar
Obongjayar is one of a few artists on this list who could easily have multiple projects here. The Headies Best Alternative Album-nominated SNIDOD is a genre kaleidoscope containing raw, moving recordings of hope, loss, aspiration, and self-validation. Songs like Wrong For It, Try and New Man are boisterous declarations: From “Stop trying to please everyone, stop trying to fix anything” about people’s perception of one’s masculinity to “Chasing perfection, no room for option/No other error, get off the ground and start again” about reclaiming identity and defying the odds. Obongjayar wants you to find yourself, even if that means missing lost ones.
Blackmagic Version 3.0 (Starving Artist) – Blackmagic
On the road to the Magic Republic, we must first contend with the starving artist—or so Blackmagic puts it. The man who gave us Repete opened 2020 with a delightful 50 minutes of grand music. The aptly titled Strong Man and Ordinary Man tackle stereotypes, asking questions of the singer’s desire to carry his cross alone because men don’t cry, and all the burdens of daily living in dysfunctional Nigeria. Blackmagic doesn’t hold back at any point in Version 3.0. Not when he’s talking about lost love and alcohol dependence on Anything For Love and I Do. Not when he’s drawing strength from his fans on No Need and Everything.
I Love It Here – Nasty C
For many Nigerian listeners, Nasty C peaked with 2018’s Strings & Blings. To the knowledgeable, that peak actually arrived five years later on his 8th project, I Love It Here. On the most vulnerable project of his career, the South African rapper opens up about so much, offering insight into who he is and what’s changed now that he’s a father. If you’ll listen to nothing at all on this album, at least click play on Broken Marriages, a searing account of intergenerational trauma and why so many men don’t seem to understand their sadness and the cycles that make them so comfortable destroying relationships.
ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS EP – PDSTRN, Sholz
A few years on from winning Hennessy Artistry’s VS Class, PDSTRN put out a joint EP with producer, Sholz, showcasing a departure from his westernised flows. On the EP, PDSTRN becomes a spokesman for the boys on the street. He pairs with Ayo Maff on the touching LETTER 222 DELE, an audio letter to a friend stuck in prison. MEMORIES, the project’s outro, is a melodic rap affair about his growth from Ketu, with prayers for a better tomorrow.
Boy Alone – Omah Lay
You were expecting this on the list, weren’t you? Omah Lay’s debut album is the Bible for emotional mid-tempo Afro-pop, and a breath of fresh air for expressive mainstream music. It’s not a stretch to state that the depth of emotion on this LP has helped people through heartbreak, depressive episodes, and feelings of isolation. There are scores of testimonies online to that effect. Somehow, the Port Harcourt-born singer managed to balance sensuous songs with bold affirmations (i), lamentations about loneliness and sobriety (i’m a mess), escapism (safe haven), and musings about the weight of heartbreak (soso, understand). Boy Alone is the poster record for sad boys for good reason.
West African Goat – Paybac Iboro
Picking out an Iboro album from a discography that also includes Cult!, The Biggest Tree, Album of The Year, and Sometimes I Dream About Death were almost too difficult, but this writer found a way all the same. We present to you West African Goat, a three-part narrative in the mold of the Nigerian hero’s journey through the fire. Introspections on faith, self-belief, familial loss, love, and the tale of how one man took a Danfo To The Headies—true story, by the way.
The Villain I Never Was – Black Sheriff
“I’m at my down-est in life and I’ll be homeless for a while/I know it’s unbelievable, ‘cause I had a home a few days ago.” Ghanaian rapper Black Sheriff opens up his debut album, hauntingly on The Homeless Song and maintains that sense of tragedy and gloom right up till the final seconds. But even in that darkness, beams of light emerge through his lyrics. There’s a version of this world where The Villain I Never Was is instead titled “This Music May Contain Hope.” 45. Soja. Toxic Love City. We Up. Oh Paradise. A reckoning with the toll of everyday living on one’s mind.
Hungry To Live: An Audio Documentary – Ikon Ekwuyasi
Leave it to a producer to put together a top-shelf album where they rap, sing, produce, coordinate collaborations, and tie together songs about faith and the human condition. But more specifically, to address how being a man affects one’s reaction to life’s challenges. From admonitions of prayer (On Your Knees) to finding belief in self (Solomon) to dealing with the loss of his brother (Lost), Ikon lays it all bare.
The Erigma II – Erigga
The Erigma II is the bible of the life of young Warri and South-South hustlers in the 2000s and 2010s, just the same way Nas’ Illmatic is to Brooklyn in the ‘90s and Olamide’s Baddest Guy Ever Liveth is to Lagos hoods in the 2000s and 2010s. And if you know anything about these men’s mentality, you understand why it’s on this list.
