Reason celebrates his 34th birthday this Wednesday by being opened about his battles within the past few years.

One of the persons that had him through his difficult days was DJ Maphorisa.

In a lengthy note shared on Instagram, the rapper says he’s not enjoyed making music for himself since the release of his project, Azania.

He battled with depression for 3 years and he opened up to Lawd Phori.

However, he’s resumed making music and he enjoys doing it now.

Read the full statement he dished out below as he celebrates a new year.

I’ve been making music for the last 24hrs. Must have made about 6 to 7 songs I think. Something I haven’t done since I made #Azania.

To tell you the truth, Turning 34 found me making music and having long conversation with @dj_maphorisa_ that probably got me out of a 3 year long depression I didn’t realize I was under.

To be frank, I haven’t really enjoyed making my own music for the last 2 years. I found more joy in creating music for others because I connected with other people’s stories better than my own. Probably because I haven’t been myself for 3 years straight.

Mainly because there’s a lot of hidden pain in loss. Loss of family, money, success, business, love, status and even self. The spirit becomes vulnerable to the hard hitting changes of life not going your way.

As @mr_instro And @bogodile1980 Would always say… “we need to always make sure you’re ok because you’ve lived through things that kill people inside”. And Coming from the hood… I’ve always taken on everything with my chest. But it built up… and I just shut down.

I had to be in the same room with someone who had to face death and karma to remember what matters in life. Loving yourself.

See, when you love yourself, you find better ways of letting go of your past celebrating your new. You end up doing what feels right to you, rather than what people think is right for you. And that can only be achieved from loving yourself.

Loving your changes. Your growth. Your wins and your losses. You have to know yourself in order to appreciate these things about yourself.

I can’t promise you all that talking to Porry will get you out of a depression you didn’t realize you had… but sometimes it takes death to appreciate life.

So let it be known. Today… I finally laid my past to rest. I have let go of the things I was holding onto that I thought would matter to me forever. And I’m giving birth to a new soul that I’ve been ignoring for 3 years.