“In terms of recovery, it has been very important for me to be a part of a recovery community, to actively be around my people because they understand me,” said Macklemore. But one opioid led to another, and in 2007, Eminem accidentally overdosed on methadone, an opioid agonist medication, and was rushed to the emergency room. In May, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram addressed the public safety issue of the deadly drug surge.
Rappers With Big Criminal Records
- DJ Screw passed away in 2000 and UGK’s Pimp C died from a codeine overdose in 2007, right around the time Lil Wayne was diving in head first.
- We may have a good sense of the artistic reputation of, say, booze — from its effects (getting drunk) to its notable laureates (Cheever), but what is the artistic connotation of lean?
- The two also started a short-lived trend of wearing clothes backward.
- To combat the influence of rap music on teen drug use, Herd recommended that parents monitor their children’s music.
- Several of his songs depict the harsh realities of addiction, but “Drug Dealer” has a special ability to impact listeners.
The report also found that synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, are affecting opioid death rates among Black people more severely than other populations. But drug use in the hip-hop community has an ever increasing presence that is intertwined with the music – and one with dire consequences. The catchy lyrics suggest that opioid misuse is part and parcel with fame and wealth, just a normal, and innocuous, component of that life.
The most popular drug in hip-hop history isn’t the one you think it is.
Much like the battle against COVID-19, the drug and opioid epidemic has created its own host of challenges that influence the music, trends and peripheral creation of the art. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drug overdose deaths increased by nearly five percent from 2018 to 2019 and have even quadrupled since 1999. Over the last 30 years, rappers have mentioned, paid homage to, and warned against the pitfalls of drugs, from lean to Xanax. We used the Genius lyrics database to track drug trends through song lyrics.
Rappers Who Addressed Their Addictions
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- He was 21 when he first sipped “lean” — a drink made from mixing prescription cough syrup containing the antihistamine promethazine and the opioid codeine with soda, Jolly Rancher candies and ice, served in doubled-up Styrofoam cups.
- With the truth out about the fatal consequences of the string of illicit and synthetic drugs, it should prove interesting to see how the music — Hip Hop music to be exact — echoes the message going forward.
- For example, Grandmaster Flash’s «White Lines,» recorded in 1983, warns cocaine does nothing except «killin’ your brain,» but more recent tunes by popular rappers such as 50 Cent’s «As the World Turns» refers to cocaine and heroin as positive things.
- These five rappers have taken positive steps to be a part of the rap and hip hop world without substance use.
“Let’s talk about pain,” said Mikiel Muhammad, 38, aka King Kong Gotcha, a member of the rap trio The Opioid Era in Virginia. They ain’t got money to go see a psychiatrist, but they got money to go get a Perc-10. They got $10, $15 for that,” Gotcha said, referencing the street value of a 10-milligram Percocet tablet. One artist won’t change the epidemic’s course just like censoring EST Gee’s mentioning of “fentanyl” on his song “Sky Dweller” won’t prevent the crisis from continuing. In spite of the never-ending generational divide amongst Hip Hop fans, the common enemy of addiction continues to cut through the lives and careers of rap legends young and old.
Pop Culture
The hook of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin And Juice” might’ve been “Rollin’ down the street, smokin’ indo / Sippin’ on gin and juice, laid back,” but even that’s not as timeless as a cup of liquor and a blunt. Phrases like “Cess,” “Chronic,” and “Indo” were fairly popular throughout the ’90s, but started to drop off into the 2000s. Much of that can be blamed on alcoholism treatment the fact that slang, the cornerstone of much of rap, is fluid and that weed in particular is no stranger to that trend. This is best seen in a term like “Buddha” that is rare to hear in context of weed in the last decade. Even a strain like “Purple Haze,“ which was used on Cam’ron’s immortal 2004 album Purple Haze, saw a drop off of over 200 percent. The 2010s, even if still full of weed lyrics, has given way to a new crop of drugs.
Hip-Hop’s Favorite Weed Strains, By The Numbers
During this time, he also began misusing Xanax and other sedative medications. Codeine misuse can cause shallow breathing, lightheadedness, hallucinations or confusion, low cortisol levels and seizures. Mixing codeine with prescription cough syrup can result in nervous system or respiratory depression. Despite its health risks, marijuana continues to be championed by rappers today. Since the beginning of his career, Snoop Dogg has made references to getting high in a collection of songs. One of his most successful tracks, “Gin and Juice,” includes lyrics about smoking “indo,” a slang term for marijuana.
Raising Awareness for Addiction, Mental Illness
A rapper merely echoes his environment, surroundings, influences and experiences. Contemporary rap artist Future has bragged about his Xanax use in numerous songs. In his track “56 Nights,” the what rapper does the most drugs rap star claims to have taken 56 Xanax pills in a month.