the Jasmine BRAND

@thejasminebrand : Rapper and entrepreneur Trinidad James is opening up about his past battle with depression, revealing how his relationship with fans, career pressures, and feelings of betrayal contributed to a difficult period in his life.

During an exclusive interview with theJasmineBrand founder @itsjasminebrand , the “All Gold Everything” rapper explained what initially triggered his depression, admitting that he struggled to separate genuine friendships from his relationships with fans.

“Me getting too close to the consumer. You get so close to your fans, you get so close to the people that you think they love you. You gotta realize they only love the thing that you do, they don’t love you,” he explained. “So when you do something that’s not what becoming of them, then they turn on you. And that hurt me the first time because I’m so loyal to my friends, and I thought my fans was my friends.”

Trinidad James said he made genuine efforts to support people and businesses, which made the negative reactions even more difficult to process.

“I’m trying to build genuine relationships with people. Spending real cash, doing good business, shopping with mom and pop shops, all the things. All the things that you’re supposed to do for culture,” he shared. “I’ve watched people turn on me. That was the first time, should I say, people had turned on me so heavily that I didn’t know what was happening, and it made me feel not as valuable as, not as valuable that I, like I usually always feel.”

The Atlanta-raised artist revealed that his emotional struggles were compounded by writer’s block and the pressure to succeed in music. He also felt his fame made it difficult to pursue a traditional job.

“So I was, like, in the dumps. You know, I’m still learning to be a better artist, but then going through heavy writer’s block and when I can’t go work for T-Mobile now I’m Trinidad James,” he said.

He continued, “It’s like I can’t do nothing illegal and I can’t do nothing legal. All I can do is this thing that I decided to do, and I’m two years into it and the expectations are high.”

Despite those challenges, Trini