The Life and Death of Juice WRLD
Gucci Mane is one of several rappers who didn’t quit their addiction because of their time in rehab. Although he spent time there and admitted that it was great for him, the rapper stated, “I was ordered to go by the court, so it didn’t stop me.” Mane had a rough childhood and had struggled with drug addiction for some time. However, he did not put much effort into fighting it until 2014. I knew I couldn’t have drugs in my life,” Gucci Mane shared with the finance publication Money. Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly (August 11, 1978 – May 1, 2013), was one of the founding members of the rap duo Kris Kross, whose 1992 chart-topping hit single “Jump” remains a cultural staple within the hip-hop and pop genres to this day.
The most popular drug in hip-hop history isn’t the one you think it is.
But African-Americans are 20 percent more likely than the general population to endure a severe mental health disorder, such as major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Lil Wayne isn’t the only drug addiction rap artist to deal with drug dependence. A number of rappers of all backgrounds have grappled with substance use disorders. This synthetic drug contains mood-altering properties that produce feelings of pleasure, warmth and energy.
“Indica”
Eminem has spoken candidly about his past struggles with substance use. Several other rappers, from Macklemore to Kendrick Lamar, have relayed the dangers of drug abuse through song. Instead of glorifying the behavior, a bevy of rap artists speak of addiction in a more somber tone. Among the 38 most popular rap songs from 1979 to 1984, about 11 percent contained drug mentions. Nineteen percent of songs in the late 1980s that were included in the study made references to substance abuse.
How Alcohol Mentions in Rap Music Can Influence Youths
Take a look at this list and find out which of your favorite rap stars abstain from drugs and alcohol. Given more reasons to quit, including the overdose death of Mac Miller in September 2018, rappers are deciding enough is enough. XXL gathered a list of rhymers who recently walked away from their most detrimental vice. Without comment from those on the plane with Juice that December evening, there’s only speculation about what happened in the rapper’s final minutes. “Knowing how he was that week, knowing how high he was acting the night before flying out, I’m willing to believe that he honestly just overdosed,” Lord says. “I don’t think there’s a greater conspiracy going on regarding the circumstances of his death,” he added.
The song prompted fellow rapper OG Maco to accuse Future of encouraging people to use drugs. In 2020, only 6.5 percent of people with substance abuse disorders received treatment. African American and Native American people had the highest rates of fatal overdoses in 2021. Per Biography, he was a drug dealer before he became a well-known rapper. He worked in this capacity from age 12 to age 19, when an undercover cop busted him in the act of selling. According to The Smoking Gun, young Jackson’s second arrest in 1994 came mere weeks later, when the police turned up at his door with a search warrant and discovered a starter gun and a stash of drugs.
Lovato’s transparency has been monumental for many fans who have come forward to open up about their own struggles and how the artist’s discussion has been empowering for them as they seek help. This kind of transparency in music is what can help create understanding for kids and adults who don’t fully understand the effect drug use can have on a person’s body and mind. Kid Cudi had a difficult upbringing that ultimately made him turn to drugs.
- He’s worked closely with XXXTentacion and PnB Rock, whose lives were both cut short by senseless murders.
- In November 2017, Lil Peep posted a series of messages, images and videos to Instagram.
- Rapper Kid Cudi’s troubles with co-occurring disorders are well-known.
To close out 2021, President Joe Biden launched dual executive orders to combat what rapper does the most drugs 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. “Hopefully I can be the face to sho niggas to slow down an we got our whole life ahead of us fuck being rock stars gettin high I got ptsd,” he wrote on Twitter, a few days after being diagnosed with liver and kidney failure in October 2017. “I was running from my old life tryna get high didn’t want to face them demons…I’m getting help I might just go to rehab.” Before his untimely passing, he stated he hadn’t taken a sip in two months. Ice Cube’s new record Everythang’s Corrupt primarily has the political landscape in its scope, but the veteran MC also warns about the dangers of casual drug use on “On Them Pills.” The song is produced by Sparkz Tha Trakman. But Juice was all in on his own music, and he eventually linked up via Twitter with two high school–age producers/beatmakers, DT and Nick Mira.
A hip-hop artist dying of an accidental drug overdose has become more of a pattern than an anomaly in the past few years. On his viral hit “All Gold Everything,” Trinidad James rapped “Popped a Molly I’m sweatin.” It was only five years ago, but it feels like decades in rap years. The early 2010s saw a shift in rappers no longer just narrating the drug trade, but shifting into being consumers themselves. The shift was not only in drug consumption itself, but in what type of drugs were being consumed in rap culture at the time. The rise of drugs like Molly, Lean, Percocet, and Xanax started to have an effect on how much a drug like weed was mentioned in music. These days, Snoop Dogg is basically hip-hop’s coolest cool uncle, thanks to his laid-back style and things like his long-running friendship with Martha Stewart.
He faced up to nine years in prison, which was ultimately turned into a seven-month stint at a youth boot camp. These products triggered a 2019 Food and Drug Administration crackdown on the vaping juices. The drugs themselves, however, still pump through the streets, just like the hip-hop lyrics. 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. “This study showed that in fact much early rap music either did not talk about drugs at all, or when it did had anti-drug messages,” said Denise Herd, of the University of California at Berkeley, who headed the research team. His brothers sold crack and were frequently incarcerated, and his mother and sisters endured sexual abuse.