Young Noble‘s former manager Steve Lobel is confirming the Outlawz rapper was indeed “the strong friend” following his suicide … and says the time for artists to have solid mental health coverage is NOW!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Steve, the man who’s managed everyone from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony to Scott Storch to Outlawz, and had a chat about Noble’s creative genius and his caring nature.

Steve says it took a couple days to complete his heartfelt eulogy on IG and shared a bunch of never-before-seen pics to hammer home the eulogy and raise awareness for the family’s GoFundMe.

He salutes the fallen Outlawz members … Tupac Shakur, Yaki Kadafi, Hussein Fatal, Mussolini, Big Syke and sends his love and condolences to the New Jersey-bred group’s last active artist, E.D.I. Mean.

TMZ Hip Hop just spoke to E.D.I., who celebrated his birthday on July 7, just three days after Noble shot himself near his Georgia home.

Steve has been pushing record labels to share the wealth of health insurance with their artists and not just the executives who sign the checks. Touring is such a necessity for artists, but the terrible lifestyles associated can be their downfall.

In the meantime, Steve’s overseeing his new artist from Cleveland, Holy‘s career … keeping him on a healthy track.