Bebe Rexha Isn't 'Holding Anything Back' In Her New Album, Which Gets Super Honest About Mental Health

New music from Bebe Rexha is always exciting, but this time, it's extra special. Rexha just released the long-awaited follow-up to her debut album, 2018's Expectations, and even though her singles have been topping the charts consistently since then, her newest effort, Better Mistakes (released May 7, 2021), promises to be her most personal yet.

ICYDK, Rexha has been unfailingly open about her mental health in recent years, revealing in 2019 that she'd been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. At the time, she wrote on Twitter that not only did she feel "not ashamed anymore" after receiving her diagnosis, but she also hinted that her second studio album would address her experiences — she said, "This next album will be [my] favorite album ever because I'm not holding anything back. I love you all very much. And I hope you accept me as I am." (Related: Bebe Rexha Shared a Video of Her "Real Body," Asking Fans to Do the Same)

Two years later, the album has finally arrived, and she definitely held up to her promise of "not holding anything back" — Rexha is getting real, both in interviews to promote the record and in its raw lyrical content. She delayed the planned 2020 release for Better Mistakes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and even added some "upbeat" songs after both her parents became "very sick" from COVID-19 early on in the pandemic — she recently told The Sun, "while I was holding on to [the album] during coronavirus, it was like, 'This needs a dance song, I'm going to lose my mind'... I can't listen to these sad songs any more, because the world is in such a different place."

Getty Images

Still, the deeply personal core of the album remains, and its release at the beginning of May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, feels perfectly apt. In an interview with Gayle King for CBS This Morning, Rexha recalled someone on her label being reluctant to release her second-ever single, "I'm Gonna Show You Crazy" in 2014, calling the song's messaging "too much" and "too heavy" — though she was eager to talk about things she didn't hear in her favorite music growing up. The song's lyrics speak candidly about struggling with mental health, saying, "There's a war inside my head. / Sometimes I wish that I was dead, I'm broken. / So I call this therapist, / And she said girl you can't be fixed just take this," and "I don't need your quick fix. / I don't want your prescriptions, / just 'cause you say I'm crazy." (Related: Bebe Rexha Teamed Up with a Mental Health Expert to Offer Advice About Coronavirus Anxiety)

Now, with a new label and support team behind her, Rexha is writing and performing on her own terms, and it's important to her to help shatter some of the stigmas surrounding mental illness. "This is part of my life, and this is something that I've been dealing with," she told King. "I wish, growing up, I would have had my favorite artists talk about mental health." For her, being honest "is about breaking the mold and the stigma and helping people," she said.

And that's exactly what she's doing with this album, which she says tackles all her biggest fears. "I wanted to talk about my insecurities with my body, my insecurities with myself and being my own worst enemy and feeling like I sabotage things because I don't deserve them or I feel like I'm not good enough or I'm scared of being hurt," she said in an interview with The Real Daytime. "I talk about mental health, because I dealt with a lot of anxiety and my own mental illness and I speak about that in 'Break My Heart Myself'... I wanted this to be like my form of therapy."

The album's lead song, a duet with Travis Barker called "Break My Heart Myself," touches on her experiences with bipolar I, written shortly after she was diagnosed in 2019. The song begins: "'Hello, my name is Stevie. / Actually, I'm lying. It's really Bebe. / It's the meds. They make me really sleepy. / Klonopin, my friend, yeah, she numbs the feeling. / My doctor upped my dosage. / My mom felt bad, so she sent me roses. / But without it, I get really hopeless, / and 5.7 of Americans know it.'" (Related: Why We Need to Stop Speculating About Other People's Mental Health, According to Therapists)

That "5.7" stat references the reported 5.7 million (roughly 2.8 percent of) adults in the U.S. affected by bipolar disorder, which can impact a person's mood, energy levels, concentration, and ability to carry out daily tasks, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. There are three types of bipolar disorder, and Rexha has bipolar I, which is defined by extensive periods of both severe manic and depressive episodes that can require "immediate hospital care."

In February 2020, Rexha explained how important it was to be open about her diagnosis through her music and her message. "That was my worst fear all my life: going crazy," she told SELF. "I felt like me opening up to my fans was me finally saying, 'I'm not going to be imprisoned by this.' And maybe it'll make somebody not feel imprisoned, in that moment, if they feel like they're going through a rough time. That's why I decided to really open up and to free myself from that." (Related: Bebe Rexha Revealed She's Been Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder)

The album's third single, "Sabotage," details her experiences with anxiety and self-doubt, with Rexha singing, "Why do I sabotage everything I love? / It's always beautiful until I f*ck it up." That feeling is a familiar one for the New York native, who told SELF, "Even as a little girl, I remember always [being] anxious, scared of what was going to happen. I was so worried all the time. I still am. I'm scared of everything."

Despite tackling some serious topics, Rexha is all about adding a little levity and reminding fans that it's okay to ask for help anytime they feel they need support. "It's important for me to laugh at myself sometimes, and also spread information, and normalize it, because it makes me feel better instead of writing a sobby ballad," she told SELF, adding, "Which you totally could do — there's not anything wrong with that. But I like to be sarcastic about things sometimes. It takes away the pain and the hurt." (Related: Free Mental Health Services That Offer Affordable and Accessible Support)

Rexha also recently shared some of her top self-care tips in a Reddit AMA on May 11, revealing that she still struggles, too. She shared some solid advice to others who might be struggling, too, writing, "First off, it's important to know that you're going to be ok. It's ok to ask for help, and it's ok to feel down sometimes. Even though it's going to be hard, try to show yourself some love. You are worth it. If you can, try going for small walks and drink lots of water. Put on some of your favorite songs. If you have to cry, cry. Tell yourself it's going to be ok, because it will be."