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As May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, and suicide continues to be the second leading cause of death for US children, the conversation surrounding self-care and wellness becomes all the more vital.

Teaming up with MTV’s Hidden Healers in an effort to liberate those that have suffered the way he has, Palestinian-Lebanese singer and rapper anees has made it his mission to live his mental health journey out loud. It only makes sense, having already gone viral on social media for his charming honesty, raw vulnerability, and of course, angelic voice.

The permission he’s given himself to live emotionally naked has landed him a Jimmy Kimmel performance, a Justin Bieber co-sign, and over 115 million streams on Spotify. As he continues to spread messages of self-reclamation, every suffering soul that sees themselves in his brown skin and shattered heart is given permission to want better for themselves.

With his debut album summer camp slated for May 19 and a North American tour immediately following, we got candid with the artist on his journey thus far and the stigmas he’s dismantling along the way.

Ones To Watch: What role has music played in your healing?

Anees: Songwriting is so cathartic. I find myself healing a little bit more with every song. Sometimes you don't even know why you feel what you're feeling. I think we repress a lot of emotions so creating music is a beautiful release of emotions for me. It's freeing.

Your freedom is tangible. Is there a misconception you want to dismantle about depression?

That depression is a form of weakness. You can be depressed no matter how "strong" you are. And it's nothing to be ashamed of. It shouldn't feel taboo. We need to talk about it more, we need to eliminate the stigma surrounding depression so our loved ones don't feel the need to suffer in silence.

What were the things that had to go when you centered your mental health? 

To nurture my mental health, I had to stop living in the "boxes" that were trapping my creative soul. Honestly, the moment I opened myself up to self-expression through music, my mental health slowly began to recover. I stopped dimming the light inside of me, and vibrant colors returned to my life.

I’m sure switching career paths had a lot to do with that pivot. Was there grief you had to process when leaving law to pursue music?

When I first quit law, I felt like I had wasted three years. I had to process a lot of feelings and thoughts. But the truth is I needed those years. I had to become a lawyer, to become an artist. I needed to go through those lows to finally wake up. But I had to grieve it to accept it, and I had to accept it to process it. Now I'm just grateful for that whole experience.

And how do you balance being positive-minded while letting yourself process those heavier emotions?

For me, everything in life can be seen through a lens of positivity. It's all about your mentality, how you choose to see things. I don't have to stop being positive to deal with some shit. Even when I'm going through it, I CHOOSE to see the deeper, sadder, heavier emotions through a positive and optimistic lens. But ultimately, that's a CHOICE that I have to make every day, and it keeps me happy, no matter what happens in my life.

Do you have a comfort food, movie, or album when that positive mindset is harder to find?

This is so random. But the Santa Clause movie with Tim Allen has always been my go-to comfort movie. I can't explain it to you. But something about Christmas in the '90s puts me at ease, haha.

Which lesson do you think you’ll never stop learning?

I don't think I'll ever stop learning how to be mindful. It's so easy to drift into the past or future, to not live in the present moment. That's a daily test and I enjoy it, it challenges me. I feel like mindfulness is the lifelong road we have to travel to find inner peace.

Is there a piece of advice you’d give yourself two years ago? 

I wouldn't give my younger self any advice. Whatever I experienced in the past was meant for me, the mistakes, the successes, all of it. I can only focus on the present moment. But, in this moment, my advice to myself is to focus only on the things that nurture my soul.