Behind the Mic: The story behind Logic’s ‘1-800-273-8255’
Logic released the biggest and most important song of his career in 2017, despite what some of his haters thought of it. With ‘1-800-273-8255′, his collaboration with singers Alessia Cara and Khalid, he went beyond just making music and changed peoples’ lives.
The song’s title was the phone number for the American National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL). Although the number changed to “988” in 2022, the old one is still active. Logic wrote the first hook and verse from the perspective of someone who is suicidal and calling the number.
He raps, “All this other shit I’m talkin’ ’bout, they think they know it/ I’ve been praying for somebody to save me, no one’s heroic/ And my life don’t even matter, I know it, I know it/ I know I’m hurting deep down, but can’t show it.”
The impact of the song was greater than Logic could have ever imagined. According to the BBC, ‘1-800-273-8255’ led to a huge increase in calls to the helpline. Researchers analysed changes to the daily call volumes at times when the song had a lot of public attention, for example, at the 2018 Grammy Awards and 2017 MTV Video Music Awards. More people began reaching out for help as a result of the song, which possibly decreased suicides, amounting to an estimated 245 people.
“More than the sales or the money was the feeling that I’d had an impact on the culture,” Logic said in his memoir The Brighter Future. “Calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline spiked by something like 50%. I wanted to bring these issues of mental health and suicide to the forefront of people’s minds and make them stop and look and pay attention, and I did.” However, the reception wasn’t all positive. Following the MTV VMAs in 2017, Logic admitted that he received a “tsunami of hate” that he couldn’t escape. “The same fans who had heard ‘1-800’ and been like, ‘This is amazing. This is so special. This is needed,’ now were the ones going, ‘This sucks,’ and, ‘He’s too mainstream.’
“The most popular thing I’d ever done, the song that was going seven times platinum, suddenly became, ‘The worst song Logic ever made.’ As I said it, I kept fighting back the tears and fighting back the tears. Then finally the tears came. I broke down on stage and started crying. And people on the internet made fun of me.”
‘1-800-273-8255’ peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned nominations for Song of the Year and Best Music Video at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. The visual finds a young gay man struggling with bullying and suicidal feelings before calling for help – it’s been viewed over 451 million times on YouTube since it was released in August 2017.
“Fans that I met randomly, they’ve said things like, ‘Your music has saved my life. You’ve saved my life,'” he told Genius. “And I was always like, ‘Aw, so nice of you. Thanks.’ And I give them a hug and shit but in my mind, I’m like, ‘What the fuck?'”
He added, “And they’re really serious. And they tat shit on their arms and get shit like lyrics that save their life and in my mind, I was like, ‘Man I wasn’t even trying to save nobody’s life.’ And then it hit me, the power that I have as an artist with a voice. I wasn’t even trying to save your life. Now, what can happen if I actually did?”