Kings Releases New Track ‘R.I.P.’ & Partners With Key To Life On Suicide Awareness Campaign

It’s just three years since Kings burst onto the New Zealand music scene, and he’s more than made his mark, with countless radio hits, tens of millions of streams, and awards galore. Now Kings is turning his attention to mental health campaigning in partnership with Key To Life with the release of a new track ‘R.I.P.’, a reinterpretation of the acronym R.I.P., speaking about resting in peace, sleeping well and beating suicidal thoughts before they take hold.

The intention of the song is to help break the taboo around suicide and mental health issues, and encourage people to be open in conversation and to seek help. The partnership with Key to Life is both about raising awareness and supporting the organisation’s practical work through the best way Kings can - music.

"This song is an open letter to myself. I've experienced suicidal thoughts and I'm happy to say I haven't felt that way in a long time. The line "I lose myself and I can't find my way back" is a direct reference to how I was feeling during those times. I want to show people who are struggling that I stand with them.

Key To Life Founder and Ambassador Mike King says he’s thankful to Kings for this support. “What he is doing is going to make such a difference to the people of Aotearoa. We need to get more people talking about mental health.

“It shouldn’t be a difficult thing to talk about, but there’s still this ingrained idea that we should whisper the word ‘suicide.’ We know from talking to over 300,000 kids over the past 5 years that our kids are fully aware their mates are taking their own lives. When high profile people like Kings are willing to step up and say it’s okay to talk, to ask for help, to look after our mates when they’re in a dark place, then the better off we as a country will be

“Our kids, our people need permission to love and to ask for help and right now they’re not getting it. Openly talking about difficult things should be normal. Looking out for our mates and being able to recognise they might be having a tough time should be normal.

“Having these thoughts doesn’t mean we are mentally ill. Having these thoughts makes us normal. We all have thoughts of doubt, thoughts of failure. We all get scared, and all of us cry. Eventually almost all of us get through the rough patches in life. But for some of us it’s not that easy and that’s exactly why we need to start talking about our feelings. If we are more open with each other we will not only be in a better position to understand the inner critic inside of our minds will always be there, we will also be in a much better position to recognise our mates might be having a tough time.

Kings encourages fans help change the way we see mental illness and reinterpret the meaning of ‘Rest in Peace’, by listening to the song and talking about it. He asks people to support the work of the Key To Life via their Givealittle page. He’s starting off his campaign by donating $10,000 to the organisation.

“As artists we have a responsibility to talk about the hard stuff and do what we can to help. I’m grateful to Key To Life for partnering with me on this project. I know they have a wealth of experience and knowledge in this field and it’s great to be able to support their incredibly important work.”

Watch the video above, and stream it below.