Are Drugs Ruining Hip-Hop?

In the current generation of hip-hop, many artists glorify the usage of drugs in their lyrics, causing many rising stars to die tragically. Drugs and hip-hop have had a long relationship; rappers from the 1990s such as Biggie, Tupac, and Jay Z tell stories of their difficult drug-dealing past in their songs to warn listeners about the lifestyle with drug usage. In the current era, hip-hop artists have changed, and with that, the perception of hard drugs has evolved as well.

Over the last couple of years, a new group of SoundCloud rappers has emerged from the underground rap scene and ascended to the mainstream. Most emerging SoundCloud rappers are teenagers between the ages of 16-18 who are incredibly liked by the younger generation, especially high school students, due to their sensational and relatable lyrics. This causes the rappers’ behaviors and lyrics to have a large influence on teens.

The commonly promoted drugs in current day hip-hop are Lean which is a mixture of cough syrup and sprite soda, and prescribed pills such as Xanax, Molly, and Percocet.

Lil Pump, widely known for his hit song “Gucci Gang,” has songs named “Drug Addicts” and “Molly,” and heavily promotes the use of drugs in his lyrics: “my lean cost more than your rent” and “Pop four Xans, now I’m feelin’ like a hero.” These lyrics heavily promote the use of drugs as they glorify illegal drugs and enforces negative influences to current youths.

There are many rappers who died in recent years due to the abuse of drugs. Lil peep, a pioneer in the emo-rap SoundCloud scene was found dead in his tour bus in 2017 due to a drug-induced accidental overdose caused by fentanyl and alprazolam, commonly referred to as Xanax, its trade name. Mac Miller, posthumous Grammy-nominated rapper was found dead in his home in 2018 also due to drug overdose of a mix of alcohol, fentanyl, and cocaine. Most recently, the death of Juice WRLD due to a toxic level of ceding and oxycodone in December 2019 shocked the music community even though Juice WRLD had heavily promoted the use of drugs. He even has a collaborative album with hip-hop legend Future called “World on Drugs.”