As you may have already heard, Gucci Mane was recently admitted into a mental-health facility on a "special plea of mental incompetency" in order to delay his probation revocation trial.
He has since been released, and got an ice-cream-cone face tattoo in time for his trial this week. In light of this, we have compiled a list of lyrics that either address mental illness in no uncertain terms or are just flat-out bonkers. Rocks Off is no psychiatrist, but it's hard to see how these rappers intended any other outcome than for listeners to question their very sanity.
10. Lil B, "I'm Miley Cyrus"; "I'm Paris Hilton"; "I'm Bill Clinton"; "I'm God"; "I'm the Devil"...
There is really no need to pick just one bar from any of these songs to demonstrate Lil B's fondness for assuming multiple personalities. Not only is he both God and the devil, he's a risqué teen pop star, a hedonistic heiress and an ex-President whose cabinet members are pieces of jewelry.
Serial killer hiding murder material in a cereal box on top of your stereo/ Here we go again, we're out of our medicine/ Out of our minds and we want in yours, let us in
It was difficult picking just one line from Eminem's strange, delusional early discography. "Kill You" is not only a bizarre and violent track, but also pretty genius. We kind of miss this unstable, quick-spitting, version of Em.
I got problems, I'm haunted by a carnival/ I could run and tell a doctor, but what for?/ I just put it on tape with a phat beat
The name of this group is crazy in itself, but their painted clown faces and ridiculous lyrics solidify the lunacy. We're pretty sure very few people in the world ever wanted to be down with any clown.
I came out my momma pussy, I'm on welfare/ Twenty six years old-still on welfare/ I'm going out my fuckin mind!/ Every time I get around devils...let me calm down/ you niggaz better start runnin, cause I'm comin/ I'm dope like fuckin heroin
This song from the late ODB's debut solo album Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version is a memorable one, and Ol' Dirt Dog was one of the craziest members of the Killa Beez. He was infamous for his unpredictable behavior and run-ins with the law. Most people were unsure as to whether or not ODB was suffering from mental illness, or just really, really high.
Redman, my papers show that you committed the same criminal acts in 12 states/ We want to bring some of that unnecessary anger out of your system/ So what we need you to do is cooperate
This intro from 1992's Whut? Thee Album is just scary. The creepy laughs and ominous bass in the background introduce a truly ill (in the best way) album.
The buddha got my brain seeing my own blood stains/ Dental records, checkin' my remains, it's hard to explain/ First I see 'em, then I don't, they disappear/ First she tried to slit my throat, now she ain't there/ I'm seeing bitches in the mirrors behind me, but when I turn around, they hard to find, see
This track from Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s Conspiracy features Lil' Kim and her paranoia that jealous haters are out to get her, a common theme of the album.
Self-educated on operating missiles, Dr. Death/ I'll lethally inject acid from an ancient needle found in a haystack/ Way, way in the back of my pyramid
A member of Street Military, Houston's South Park neighborhood rap collective, Pharoah has been struggling for his sanity for quite a while behind bars. The "Six Foot Giant" was locked up a few years after releasing this album, due to what most fans speculate was a drug-induced crime. Watch the ghost-adventure-themed video to get the full effect, and check out the similar "Pissed Off In the Mind" and "Rock, Rock a Bird."
Self-explanatory.
Identification code: unidentified/ I got cosmophonic, pressed a button, changed my face/ You recognized, so what?/ I turned invisible, made myself clear, reappeared to you visual/ Disappear again, zapped like a android/ Face the fact, I fly on planets every day
Earth people, he was born on Jupiter. His helmet is on, so you can't tell him he's not in space. One of Kool Keith's alter egos, Dr. Octagon was introduced in 1996 with the release of Dr. Octagonecologyst. Kool Keith has performed as several other personas, all of which are equally bizarre.
This year Halloween fell on a weekend/ Me and Geto Boys are trick-or-treating/ Robbing little kids for bags til an old man got behind our ass/ He'd be down for a squabble no doubt/ so I swung and hit the nigga in his mouth/ The more I swung the more blood flew/ Then he disappeared and my boys disappeared too
Then I felt just like a fiend/ It wasn't even close to Halloween/ It was dark as fuck on the streets/ My hands were all bloody from punching on the concrete/ Damn, homie, my mind playing tricks on me
Bushwick Bill has had a publicized history of mental issues, but his verse from this song paints a pretty vivid story. A photo of Bill on a hospital stretcher being escorted by the Geto Boys became the cover of the group's 1991 release We Can't Be Stopped, after Bill shot himself in the eye because his then-girlfriend wouldn't do it for him.
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