They may not have participated in drug use or heavy drinking prior to experiencing fame, but they were surrounded by these behaviors growing up. To combat the influence of rap music on teen drug use, Herd recommended that parents monitor their children’s music. She said learning slang terms — such as “angel dust,” code for PCP — could help parents better detect their children’s substance use. In February 2016, rapper Macklemore released “The Unruly Mess I’ve Made,” a record in which addiction is a recurring topic. A few months later, he met with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss the realities of this disease. Although Wayne popularized lean in the late 2000s, Houston group the Botany Boys were some of the first MCs to mention lean on wax.

• He’s battled with cocaine and crack addiction, among other things, and it’s sent him to jail almost 30 times.
• I just remember how he was able to switch the mood so fast and how maybe if I smoked I could do something similar,” they said.
• The rapper has no concerts scheduled at this time, so there’s no telling when fans might expect to see him again.
• Before his death from a suspected overdose in 2017, Lil Peep talked about his depression in an interview with Pitchfork.
• In June 2022, he violated a protective order filed against him by his ex-girlfriend and was subsequently sent to jail.

One of his most successful tracks, “Gin and Juice,” includes lyrics about smoking “indo,” a slang term for marijuana. Beeson said alcohol mentions are not necessarily an endorsement of drinking. While some rap artists examined in the analysis promoted alcohol use, others stressed the dangers of heavy drinking. It might sound callous, but Jacob Thureson’s parents, Erik and Judy, were not too worried when they heard about his latest overdose. It had happened a couple of times already and the 18-year-old rapper had always made it out of hospital in one piece.

Alerts & Newsletters

Today, he regularly attends 12-step programs, which are self-help meetings designed to treat destructive behaviors, including substance misuse. Contemporary rap artist Future has bragged about his Xanax use in numerous songs. In his track “56 Nights,” the rap star claims to have taken 56 Xanax pills in a month.

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. Cole was being celebrated for his Album Of The Year-winning K.O.D., a project ripe with anti-inebriation anthems, and Mac Miller was being mourned following his accidental drug overdose death that September. 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. To close out 2021, President Joe Biden launched dual executive orders to combat what they call a “billion-dollar business” responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Americans in just the span of a year. Yet, this country has seen “war on drugs” initiatives crash and burn in the past — a point JAY-Z so confidently pointed out in 2016. Not only has he found massive success both a solo and featured artist, but along with Chad Hugo, he penned some of the biggest hits of the 00s and 10s as The Neptunes.

Green Day to Play 30 Years of Hits With 2024 Saviors Tour, Celebrating ‘Dookie’ and ‘American Idiot’

A 2008 study conducted by the University of California, Berkley found that drug references in rap music increased drastically from 1979 to 1997. Researchers examined drug mentions in 341 rap songs during that time. For years, rap music has glorified substance use, portraying getting high as an activity with little consequence. Although this trend continues, more rappers today are using their platforms to spread awareness for addiction and mental illness. One problem lies in the way these rappers’ careers have built with unprecedented speed. Tyler, The Creator’s story with alcohol and drugs is a little different to some others on this list.

“The younger kids don’t do stuff as much, because they see all the shit that happened in the last few years.” For those who do still indulge, drug-testing kits are becoming common. 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. From Grandmaster Melle Mel in 1984 to Future in 2016, every artist referencing the drug of the moment is only a piece of a larger puzzle—a story told through rap. Chance the Rapper is reflecting on a difficult time from his past.

Country Star Calls out Women Who Stole Entire Bowl of Halloween Candy, Reveals Ring Camera Video

Young Dro’s rehab story is particularly sad because of how the effects of his drug use hit close to home. At the time, he had no idea he would get addicted or how far the effects would reach. Unfortunately, he did struggle with substance abuse down the line, and much later, he discovered that his teenage daughter had started using as well. Dro shared that the discovery pushed him to check himself into rehab in 2021 and has stayed clean since. Gucci Mane is one of several rappers who didn’t quit their addiction because of their time in rehab.

A month after his release from the hospital, Eminem relapsed. He eventually entered long-term sobriety after detoxing without medical supervision, though this practice is considered by physicians to be a dangerous approach to overcoming sober rappers addiction. 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. Future has talked about his use of Xanax in a number of songs.

While many of the rappers on this have either dabbled or gone deep into addiction, Tyler, The Creator has basically never been tempted. Big dog DMX is tough as barbed wire and slicker than an oil spill, but even he’s had a hard time fighting addiction. He’s battled with cocaine and crack addiction, among other things, and it’s sent him to jail almost 30 times. He tells in the above video about how his children were his inspiration to finally get clean.

• He tells in the above video about how his children were his inspiration to finally get clean.
• He was a Southern hip-hop icon, and he lived the life he rapped about.
• Then other rappers, including Dr. Dre, started positively portraying smoking cannabis in their music and during interviews.
• “After Peep died, a lot of people stopped partying every day,” says Morgan.
• Fani Willis, the same district attorney who is prosecuting Donald Trump, may not have gotten all the lyrics right.
• Since the 1980s, rappers have referenced substance use in lyrics.