In 2009 Keri Hilson dropped her debut studio album In a Perfect World which would begin to cement the success of the singer-songwriter. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and featured hits like “Knock You Down.” Hilson would earn two Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Things were looking up for the artist, and everyone presumed she was on a road of continued success.

In 2010, she released her sophomore project No Boys Allowed. The album was less successful than the first and Hilson nearly fall off of the music scene. There was no release of music for seven years, and she barely used social media. During a recent panel discussion with the Silence the Shame organization the Georgia native explained her hiatus.

“Literally, seven years of my life have been a battle with depression, and I can’t say that I’m all the way clear, but I’m in the clear,” voiced the singer. “When ‘Pretty Girl Rock’ was at the top of the charts, I was bearing the weight of some personal and professional mistakes, and they just weighed so so so heavy on my spirit, and I was just not myself.”

Despite living out her dreams, Hilson’s mental health was at a low because of mistakes she made personally and professionally.

“It all just kind of spiraled for me, and became something I had never been through, I had never recognized myself as a person who can’t pick themselves back up. I mean, I was literally on stage crying.” She added that a break-up of a longterm relationship worsened the low point she had reached.

Hear Keri Hilson discuss her bout with depression and coping mechanisms in at the 11:47 mark in the video above. Silence the Shame is an initative started by Shanti Das which works to break the stigma of mental health and the hip hop community.