Welcome to Proper Mental Episode 39!
My guest this week is the recording artist, TED speaker and mental health advocate, Shocka!
Shocka first became known as part of the collective Marvell and toured with the likes of Chip and Skepta and also spent time in the studio with Drake and Rhianna. After the group were eventually dropped from their label, Shocka felt his mental health start to decline and he ended up being sectioned three times over the next few years.
When he delivered his TED Talk, his focus was on self-love which he believes is part of the solution to mental health issues like depression and anxiety. By teaching someone how to love and appreciate themselves – no matter what their background or identity is – he believes it will drastically improve their ability to go through life positively.
Shocka and I chat about his journey in the music industry and what it’s like to blow up at a young age and what happens when the momentum stops.
We chat about being sectioned, using social media for good, masculinity in the hip hop community and of course we chat about self-love and how he used the concept to recover and rebuild his mental health.
This story has everything and Shocka’s attitude and personality are incredibly infectious! He’s a really cool dude and I had a blast chatting to him.
You can connect with Shocka on Instagram @shocka_artist. The link for his TED party is here:
Self love is the glue that puts us back together | Shocka | TEDxLondon - YouTube
And you can watch the Self Love video we chat about here:
Shocka - Self Love (ft. Brook Baili) [Official Video] - YouTube
You can follow the podcast on all social platforms @propermentalpodcast and email via the website on www.propermentalpodcast.com.
If you’d like to support Proper Mental you can buy me a (virtual) coffee and every penny goes back in to putting out more episodes!
www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental
If you or anyone around you needs to find support services in your local area, please contact www.hubofhope.co.uk
Thanks for listening!
Enjoy!