The Busyhead Project

By Ella Paul, 2024

Published 10/11/2023

The Busyhead Project logo and Busyhead (2019) album cover. Images courtesy of GoogleImages. 

Celebrities have an enormous platform to speak out about important issues faced by society. Unfortunately, many choose not to confront these pressing issues because of how controversial they are. To combat this trend, Noah Kahan, an increasingly prolific alternative indie/folk artist in the music industry, is actively working to destigmatize mental health. 

Yesterday, October 10th, was World Mental Health Day. This day also marked the $1.9 million-raised mark for Kahan’s Busyhead Project. The Busyhead Project, started in May 2023 and named after his 2019 album Busyhead, is Kahan’s personal initiative to raise awareness and money for mental health using proceeds from ticket sales on his tours. The money is donated directly to local support organizations in areas where he tours.

The album Busyhead features ten catchy and thought provoking songs, some of the most popular being “False Confidence,” “Mess,” “Hurt Somebody,” and “Busyhead.” The majority of songs on the album, especially these four, speak strongly to Kahan’s mental health journey. The songs directly relate to the powerful emotions typically felt due to the overwhelming aspects of life, the struggle to seek confidence is a society built on competition and comparison, the fear of aging, and the fact that it can be so easy to “lose yourself inside your busyhead” (Kahan). 

As a part of this project, Kahan is honest about his mental health journey not only through his music, but also through his openness on his personal experience with therapy for his depression and anxiety. There is a significant amount of pressure placed on celebrities to appear as though their life is perfect on magazine covers and social media. However, unlike most celebrities, Kahan is not worried about his image; he is more concerned about relating to and supporting his loyal fans. Many of his songs, which he writes himself, are about his experiences with mental illness and how it impacts his life and relationships. They tackle difficult emotions that many people struggle to express. He encourages his listeners to take care of themselves, find people to support them, and never be ashamed of their mental health journey. The goal of the project, and of many of Kahan’s works, is to make his listeners feel heard and appreciated. 

In 2023, it is clear that society has moved in a positive direction in terms of destigmatizing mental health; however, there is still a need for change in many areas, professions, and age groups. Celebrities like Noah Kahan play such an important role in this process because they remind society that it truly is okay not to be okay all the time.