“Because of its fentanyl’s potency and low cost, drug dealers have been mixing fentanyl with other drugs including heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine, increasing the likelihood of a fatal interaction,” she says. “Fentanyl is much cheaper to make and easier to smuggle because small amounts are very powerful. Many who overdose have no idea the substances they are taking include fentanyl.” The first time was in December 2020, when he voluntarily sought out professional help. Dex has had several legal issues throughout his career and has been arrested a few times. In June 2022, he violated a protective order filed against him by his ex-girlfriend and was subsequently sent to jail.
“Indica”
Then, we what rapper does the most drugs will move through more vulnerable representations of substance abuse in music — with many of the songs becoming a cry for help rather than a promotion of drug use. Finally, we will listen to music that was created with the intent of documenting the realities and dangers of drug addiction, which it seeks to combat with open and productive conversation. Recent years have brought the topic of drug addiction and the opioid crisis into the spotlight for the music industry. When kids and young adults grow up with their favorite artists casually talking about drinking lean and popping pills, within the same verse claiming that they are the best rappers in the world, it paints a dangerous narrative and example. There is a fine line between creating healthy and open discussion about drug addiction and using a platform to promote non-transparent or unrealistic representations of drug use.
Opioids Like ‘Lean’ Permeate Hip-Hop Culture, but Dangers Are Downplayed
- Following Demi Lovato’s public overdose in July of 2018, the singer released a documentary detailing exactly how her drug and alcohol use began and developed into an addiction that almost took her life.
- The poetic words detailing the rappers’ experience offer some support.
- 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.
- Dr. Chris Johnson, an emergency room physician, said that codeine-based cough medicine can be as dangerous as other opioids and that misusing these medications can result in serious physical and psychological problems.
- Over the years, many rappers have sought help in an effort to deal with their addictions.
- Drug and alcohol mentions can influence adolescents to engage in substance use, according to Eric Beeson, a licensed professional counselor for the online master’s in counseling program at Northwestern University.
His death was ruled as accidental with and was attributedto the effects of Butler’s heavy usage of “purple drank” in conjunctionwith his marijuana addiction pre-existing condition of sleep apnea. Although lean is one of the weaker opioids, experts say it is highly addictive, and often in a short time. “At first, there’s a mellowing high,” said Stevie Jones, 23, also known as Prophet J, an independent rapper in Louisville, Kentucky. He has similar recollections from his first time misusing codeine syrups. He and his friends drizzled some on a blunt — the slang term for a hollowed-out cigar filled with pot. “It just makes it burn slower — like, get you a little bit higher, I guess,” Prophet J said.
- As the family moved around the south suburbs of Chicago, he joined the school band as a percussionist, and picked up guitar in seventh grade.
- While hip-hop has seen the adverse consequences, the U.S. as a whole is dealing with the drug problem on a larger scale.
- But by the late 1980s the incidence had increased to 19 percent, and after 1993 nearly 70 percent of rap songs mentioned drug use.
- In songs and interviews, Jay-Z has discussed the ubiquity of drugs he saw while growing up in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
- The results showed that substance use was referenced in 77 percent of rap songs, the highest percentage of drug mentions among all genres included in the study.
- Four years later, while living with his grandmother, he began selling crack.
‘The Voice’ singer makes Snoop Dogg, Reba McEntire cry with Josh Groban song that honors his late brothers
“I use to think being sober would fuck wit my creative process, I see dats just a mind thing cuz I been more active skin glowing and I been dropping nun but pressure,” he wrote on social media in January as he denounced his biggest rap hit. A direct ode to the sweetened cough syrup (a point only heightened by Lil Wayne’s inclusion), the song was a big part of Moneybagg Yo’s crossover success, but he’s doing a 180 in favor of his well-being. Following the 2019 death of Juice WRLD, his equally charged counterpart Trippie Redd vowed to whittle his vices down to marijuana; a promise he’s at least upheld in the public eye. To make matters even more dire, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been solely blamed for making the nation’s drug epidemic “worse,” so reports the American Medical Association.
Raising Awareness for Addiction, Mental Illness
DMX’s criminal record features a wide array of things, from driving offences to possession of guns and illegal substances to tax evasion. As Mercury News notes, he attributed much of his problematic personal life to his long-standing addiction issues. The rapper has stated that his longtime addiction to crack cocaine began when he unwittingly smoked a marijuana joint containing the drug when he was just 14 years old.
- But drug use in the hip-hop community has an ever increasing presence that is intertwined with the music – and one with dire consequences.
- It’s important to note that not all are involved in drug abuse, and many rappers are completely sober.
- In the experiment, an artist was given two 50 microgram doses of LSD, separated by an hour, and asked to draw several sketches of the doctor who administered the drug over the course of eight hours.
- You must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our kffhealthnews.org site.
- Relapse and Recovery, in particular, are two concept albums that detail the rapper’s relapse and recovery from drug addiction.
- Presumably, the victim was his former girlfriend, Sara Molina, who has spoken to Daily Beast of the rapper’s violence.
- According to CBS News, the multiple charges the rapper faced stemmed from an incident where he threatened two groundskeepers of his mansion with a gun, forcing them into a guest house on the premises and beating one of them with said gun.
Also known as molly and MDMA, the drug often shows up at nightclubs and concerts. Rapper 50 Cent was exposed to drugs while living in the borough of Queens in New York City. His mother was a drug dealer and died when he was eight years old. Four years later, while living with his grandmother, he began selling crack.
