Over the years, many rappers have sought help in an effort to deal with their addictions. Also, some artists proudly speak out against the current drug obsession in Hip Hop. Whether they’re mentioned on the radio, seen in music videos, or smuggled into concerts, drugs are pretty much unavoidable in the genre.

Lifestyle

The fantasy of making money on the streets has always appealed to the Hip-Hop community, so it is no surprise that a large percentage of rappers talk about moving work in their rhymes. But as we all know by now, most of these claims fall into the “it’s only entertainment” category. On the other side you have those rappers who really were about that life before and sometimes during their Rap days. Singer, songwriter, and rapper Lexii Alijai also makes our list of rappers who overdosed. She died on New Year’s Day of 2020 due to a mix of alcohol and fentanyl poison.

A Timeline of Kodak Black’s Legal Troubles

Known for his hit songs like “My Mind Went Blank” and “Pimp Tha Pen,” DJ Screw also suffered a terrible fate from substance abuse. In his music, he reveals the mental health problems that have plagued him for years. As he explained, in 2014, when he began experiencing success in his career, Chance moved to North Hollywood and was high on Xanax every day. His addiction resulted in broken relationships and a lack of productivity. Six months later, he moved back to Chicago, his hometown, and stopped using drugs.

References to Substance Use in Rap Songs

A founding member of UGK, Pimp C helped pave the way for the Dirty South revolution and gave the game some of its trillest tracks, but his reign was cut short when addiction got the best of him. It permeates the music, it’s imprinted in the culture and recently, it’s been having deadly consequences for rappers. Most recently, Toosii went on Instagram to Alcoholics Anonymous set the record straight about what he likes to do in his spare time.

See Rappers Who Are Proud to Be Sober

At the rappers that do drugs peak of her career model-turned-rapper Chynna Rogers was tragically found dead due to drug abuse on April 8, 2022, in her home in Philadelphia. Miller died from mixed drug poisoning, which includes the combination of cocaine, fentanyl, and alcohol. He passed away on September 7, 2018, at the age of 26 years old.

Rappers Who Are Sober

Speaking in third person, he captioned the post, “Toosii if you don’t smoke or drink how do you have fun?,” dismissing any notion of relying on substances to keep himself busy. “Well… I got a bowling problem,” he continued, evidenced in the 30 plus balls that he was pictured laying in front of. “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.

• The relationship between rappers, alcohol, and drug addiction is a complex and multifaceted issue.
• Unlike some of his fellow Odd Future members, Tyler, The Creator made a deliberate decision to not smoke or drink.
• In some cases, the influence of drugs is not so easily clear-cut.
• Lil Peep, or Gustav Elijah Åhr, passed away on November 15, 2017, and his death was ruled as accidental overdose.

Beeson says these artists may refer to substance use in their music because it once was their reality. They may not have participated in drug use or heavy drinking prior to experiencing fame, but they were surrounded by these behaviors growing up. In songs and interviews, Jay-Z has discussed the ubiquity of drugs he saw while growing up in Brooklyn in the 1980s. The streets of New York were rife with illicit substances, and Jay-Z saw evidence of crack use everywhere. 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. In an interview with EntertainmentWise.com, Iggy Azalea admitted that she doesn’t drink alcohol or do drugs.

His passing was attributed to an accidental prescription drug overdose. 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. Ol’ Dirty Bastard was one of the greatest voices in hip-hop.

Two dealers have been sentenced to prison in connection with Mac Miller’s fatal overdose. In this article, we will explore the lives of renowned and talented rappers who overdosed. Rapper Kid Cudi’s troubles with co-occurring disorders are well-known.