Antonio Sgro suffers from mental illnesses on a daily basis from an early age. He now draws his strength from music and cinema, which over time have become a form of personal therapy. He shares his emotions and his very intimate stories through his rap lyrics.
This young resident of Rivière-des-Prairies experienced the pandemic as yet another blow. “It only increased my symptoms. Isolation and lack of socialization are very difficult to live with. I live with my grandmother, so the burden of responsibility is enormous ”, explains Antonio.
Barely 18 years old, Antonio suffers from anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder on a daily basis. If for a long time he took a lot of medication and followed the advice of doctors, today the arts also allow him to escape his health problems.
Hip hop
Poetry and writing have been his refuge for two years. The young artist explains that he has found a new passion that allows him to think of something else and occupy his mind. “You have to have and practice a passion in order to escape problems,” he adds.
Antonio says “write to keep busy”. Sometimes insomnia strikes him and rather than doing nothing, the young artist prefers to put his ailments on paper. “I write because it makes me feel good. I often write true stories about myself. It’s therapeutic and almost a vital need to share this suffering, ”he says.
“I write because it makes me feel good. It is therapeutic and almost a vital need to share this suffering. ” – Antonio Sgro, student at Dawson College
Most of her time is spent in her bedroom. The studies, the writing and even the composition of his songs. Antonio recently built a recording studio that made it easier and faster to produce, he says.
“The pandemic changed everything, I had to adapt so as not to let my troubles take over,” he says.
Know how to talk about it
Antonio is determined to make his voice heard and not just through his rap lyrics. Lately, he is the initiator of the last podcast of Hotspot MTL in which he delivered on the topic of mental health.
“Speaking in public is not easy, however, if I can encourage kids my age with the same conditions to talk about it, I would be proud of it,” he says of the podcast he has. animated and for which he composed the soundtrack under his artist name M! Ni.
“I try to say things that make sense. We must no longer be afraid to talk about it, ”he adds.
According to him, the arts are a way of conveying messages and speaking out loud about what is gnawing at him. “These are extraordinary mediums that must be exploited to their fair value.”
Next October, Antonio will be starting film studies at Concordia University. “It is a pride for me to have been accepted there. I will be able to indulge in a new form of artistic expression, ”he says with a big smile.
In the meantime, his days are punctuated between online lessons and production of his first album which will be released in June. “I am also looking forward to performing on stage. Yet another form of anxiety, but positive this one! ”
To listen to it, go to its Youtube channel
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