A new study has revealed that rapper Logic's suicide prevention hit, "1-800-273-8255," has been linked to increased calls for help.
The analysis released by The BMJ, a weekly medical trade journal in the U.K., showed the suicide prevention hotline, which is also the title of Logic's 2017 musical hit, received nearly 10,000 calls, resulting in a 5.5% drop in suicide rates in youth ages 10 through 19 years old.
"Celebrities but also non-celebrities can have an important role in suicide prevention if they communicate about how they have coped with crisis situations and suicidal ideation," the study's author Thomas Niederkrotenthaker, Associate professor at the Austria's Medical University of Vienna, wrote.
The study, which was conducted between Jan. 2010 and Dec. 2018, revealed the results were achieved throughout three different periods: a month after the track's release, following his MTV award performance and after his highly promoted Grammy Awards performance in 2018.
"To know that my music was actually affecting people's lives, truly, that's what inspired me to make the song," Logic expressed to CNN. "We did it from a really warm place in our hearts to try to help people. And the fact that it actually did, that blows my mind."
According to Logic, whose real name is Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, the track was inspired by his anxiety, as he explained to GQ Magazine in an interview. The Grammy-nominated rapper credits his fans who've shared with him how his music has helped them through their darkest days.
"The thing about it, though, is that I never made my music to inspire anyone but myself. I made my music to pull myself out of a dark place," Logic said. "Every lyric I ever wrote, I was always talking to an audience of one."
As a result of the song's success, Logic accepted his first Grammy honors: Song of the Year and Best Music Video at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. In Aug. 2018, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the song as quintuple platinum.
Logic has continued to use his platform to speak on issues relating to mental health & suicide prevention and the song has since gone 7x platinum-certified by the RIAA.
