For those who are unbeknown to the concept, The Suicide Watch is a project initiated by young hip hop artists across the country, with an emphasis on spreading an important social message.
Targeting suicide prevention, the youthful story tellers share their experiences, with unique hip-hop flair.
Kicking off the mixtape, ‘You’re Not Alone’ introduces the album in quite confronting circumstances as the lyrist MC MJD explores the hellish experiences of being directly, or indirectly affected by suicide.
Further down the track listing, lyrical narrative ‘All You Need To Talk’ follows the personal story of a troubled youth with a fear a speaking up, which as MC Hendo announces, is the young man’s downfall.
The song encourages people to talk up about the socially denting problem of youth suicide, and is accompanied by a somewhat contrastingly upbeat musical number.
‘Nobody’s Perfect’ introduces a slight variation on the earlier hip hop styles prevalent in the release, but continues to preach the underlying message. The track is aimed at reassuring, rather than early tracks which tell some rather alarming personal stories.
The track is a welcomed contrast to the earlier tracks, which have a particular focus on shocking audiences with confronting lyrics.
Whilst the flow and rhythmic makeup of the rhymes in the mixtape are not exactly world class, the song writing, both lyrics and musical accompaniments, are more than admirable.
The release is a raw, necessary example of young people rallying for change, one step at a time.
