For my listening posts I am listening to and analyzing “1-800-273-8255” by rapper Logic, along with Khalid and Alessia Cara. “1-800” for short, came out on Logic’s 2017 album “Everybody” and quickly rose to the top of his most listened to songs. The song also charted number 31 for the year on Billboards year end hot 100 for 2017. With 3 top charting artists, a deep bass, soulful choir singers, and a deep outright message it was hard for the song not to receive attention. The song name is the actual number for the suicide hotline: 1-800-273-8255 .
2017 was a long year emotionally for many nation wide and beyond. A quick recap of 2017 to jog your memories: Trump is elected into office, Fights over the repeal of ObamaCare, Myanmar upping attacks on Rohingya, North Korea launches missiles over Japan, U.S. backed forces took Raqqa, Women’s Rights movement on Washington, NFL National Anthem kneeling, Boom of “Fake News”, Las Vegas Shooting kills 58 and 500 wounded, Record hitting hurricanes devastate Houston, California Wildfires grow, White supremacists marched on Charlottesville. I could keep going but thats not what I am writing about, however on a side note the solar eclipse was pretty cool. For a more concrete list with more detail click here : 2017 happenings.
Hip/Hop has always been a genre to me that is caught in the perfect storm. You can take it in any route, and a lot of artists, like Logic take the route to speak out on topics that need to be looked at more closely. In the song “1-800-273-8255” he does just that by speaking out on topics like suicide, depression, sexual oppression of identity, bullying, mental health in general and so much more on the album as a whole.
The song starts with the lines “I’ve been on the low, I’ve been taking my time”, “I feel like i’m going out of my mind”, “I don’t wanna be alive, I just wanna die”. Mental health is something that has always had a negative stigma attached to it. Almost like someone making fun of you “oh you don’t have your shit together? Wow” or people telling you that you’re fine you need to just be happier. That is the stuff that drives me crazy. How can you just be happier?
“I know I’m hurting deep down but can’t show it”
“It feel like my life ain’t mine”
The song starts in a state of depression, and this person is at rock bottom. They want to die. Literally. However, as it keeps going it is almost emphasizing with this depressed “voice” but also kind of telling this voice it doesn’t have to be this way. Logic is sympathizing but also saying like “hey, you need to live, there is love out there waiting for you and love out there waiting for you to give to others”.
The song is an emotional rollercoaster of the human essence, everyone can relate to not being themselves or feeling empty, like you don’t matter. However, we got to persevere, we do mean something to somebody.
Noteworthy: On the day of release of the “1-800” single the suicide hotline received the second highest amount of calls in a day ever with 4,573 calls. Only to be overshadowed by his later MTA performance which spurred over 5,000 calls in one day. A big impact.
March 2, 2021 at 9:24 am
Matt,
When we’re talking about context we need to be sure to focus on those that are directly impacting and contributing to the song, so while the list of horrors that you present from 2017 is, well, horrific, we need to either frame them more effectively or narrow down to the ones that will help us more fully consider the song. For this song (and the video) it would be events (and stats) that show rising levels of depression, anxiety, and attempted suicides. It would also be the impact of the homophobic rhetoric at the local and national level.
I’m really glad you included the video of Logic talking about his inspiration about the song. How cool is it that he was hanging out with fans at their houses, and that their comments lead him to reflect on what he was really doing as an artist and had the potential to do. So, you’ll also need to be sure to locate the song within the whole Everybody album. But, as we have discussed in class, you want to be sure not to rely on Logic for all of the meaning.
Fascinating, too, that calls to 1-800-273-8255 went up after the song was released. (Just like visits to the voter registration website broke all records when Taylor Swift said to vote.)
Looking forward to future posts!
Bill