The Neighbourhood’s Jesse Rutherford shares his I’m Listening Mental Health Mix

From rap to hardcore, these are Jesse's songs for 'mental positivity and emotional stability'
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By , Audacy

Music has the ability to transport us to a different world, float through fond memories, tell stories, shape our identities, and most importantly, positively impact our moods.

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A major component of Audacy’s I’m Listening campaign is being able to look at music as a tool that not only helps further the discussion around mental health but uses the media as a mechanism that can quite literally benefit our mental health.

The Neighbourhood’s Jesse Rutherford breaks down his top five songs that positively affect his mental health. Looking towards music to help process emotions, Rutherford tells us that his go-to songs are “kind of a mixed bag,” but sardonically jokes, “so are emotions.”

Listen to Jesse’s list below.

1 “We All Try” – Frank Ocean

Quite possibly one of his favorite songs “ever,” Rutherford says, “I feel like lyrically, melodically… it’s a nice starting point to chill me out, keep me positive, maybe if I’m not too too in my feelings, if I’m just like stressed out about something that’s maybe a little not worth stressing out about.”

2 “everything i wanted” – Billie Eilish

For The Neighbourhood frontman, Eilish’s lyrics on “everything i wanted” really resonate with him. “It’s such a perfectly written song… it’s always nice when a song does some of the thinking for you, or the expressing for you.”

3 “Tie My Hands” - Lil Wayne

“The whole feel of it and what Lil Wayne is talking about in that song… just the tone that he has in general in that song is a relatable emotion,” explains Jesse. He says that although he did not face the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the rapper’s piece is an “inspiring track.”

4 “Straightenin” – Migos

This is the track that just puts Jesse in a good mood. Having listened to it a lot recently, the artist tells us that he enjoys the “dust your shoulders” off mentality that comes with the song.

5 “Brotherly Love” – Have Heart

Going back to his hardcore roots, the last song Jesse chose was “Brotherly Love,” off of Have Heart’s record, Songs to Scream at the Sun. The artist says that this band and this song in particular not only inform his music but also informs who he is as a man. First hearing the album at sixteen, Jesse shares, “it has greatly affected how I operate, how I write I think too…”

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