Royce Da 5’9”, Eminem’s fellow Bad Meets Evil partner and former Slaughterhouse signee, went through his own struggles with alcoholism. The Detroit lyricist has rapped about his addiction and recovery in his music. J. Cole’s KOD album even explored the severity of drug abuse and addiction. Unfortunately, drug use in hip hop is nothing new, as we have lost talents like Pimp C, Mac Miller, and Juice WRLD to overdoses. As a result of the toll that addiction can take on an individual, many rappers have become sober and are inspiring others to do so as well.
Here’s a List of Rappers That Are Proud to Be Sober
The bars in this song all revolve around the common issues when substance abuse takes over and dulls life. After so many years of abusing and rapping about drugs, it’s hard to stop, especially when a rapper like Bladee has made it a part of their persona. The song ends on a positive note, with Bladee trying to motivate and remind listeners that sobriety is possible. He rapped about drug use on his first few albums, but it was not until after 2004’s Encore that he sought help. His 2009 album, Relapse, was a direct result of a relapse following the death of his best friend, rapper Proof. After becoming sober, Eminem reemerged with Recovery, his incredibly successful seventh album chronicling his journey to sobriety.
The Influence of Addiction on Music
- 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.
- Some have personally struggled with addiction and needed to get clean to get their life in order.
- On “Otherside,” Macklemore raps about Lil Wayne being a major influence of his personal codeine addiction.
- In an interview with HipHop-N-More, Cole opened up about weed never really being his thing, and said that he really only talks about weed to relate to some of his fans.
- “I ain’t got nothing against you if you wanna throw one back,” as he told Sway on Sway In The Morning.
In an interview with Montreality, Hopsin explained why he doesn’t smoke weed. I don’t need any enhancers, I’ve never done it.” It turns out Hopsin’s “Ill Mind” isn’t so twisted, after all. While many of the rappers on this have either dabbled or gone deep into addiction, Tyler, The Creator has basically Sobriety never been tempted. Eminem has often discussed his struggles with addiction in his music.
Rappers Who Addressed Their Addictions
With a background in academia, he is passionate about bringing rigour and insight to music journalism. In a 2022 interview with Self, he discussed how avoiding overworking, limiting his use of social media, and feeling inspired and motivated by his daughter help him to stay clean. Like many, the artist struggled during the Covid pandemic, and during lockdown he relapsed. However, he cleaned up, and now works with CLEAN Cause – a sparkling yerba mate brand, who donate towards supporting addiction recovery. Eminem is now well-known not only as one of the most influential rappers of all time, but as a rapper who is continuing to overcome his struggle with addiction. At the peak of his addiction, the rapper reveals that he was taking 75 to 80 valium per night.
- Andre decided to make the change after partying too hard in his younger days.
- “My live shows are a million times better now,” he told the BBC.
- To anyone who’s had even a mild exposure to rap songs, you’ve probably found the music replete with drug references.
In a 2013 interview with Paper Magazine, Pharrell said he doesn’t do drugs or smokes at all. “Everybody else can do what they want, but that stuff isn’t for me. I’ve been drunk nine times in my life, and I ate some weed brownies once and passed out in a bathroom.” Well, apparently it was a bad experience with a weed brownie that ruined it for him.
Mental Health Awareness
I barely think about it alcohol’ he explained to The Telegraph, after a long route to getting sober after filming the Harry Potter franchise. ‘If I continued it, I was really going to sabotage my whole life,’ Cooper told GQ in 2013. Cooper got sober at 29 years old and has now been a teetotal celebrity for rappers that dont do drugs 19 years. In fact, new evidence published in The Lancet indicates that while a reduction in alcohol consumption is always a good idea, there seems to be no threshold of alcohol consumption where there are no health risks. Meaning, complete abstinence is still preferential for the best illness prevention.
Artists including Kid Cudi, Big K.R.I.T., Joe Budden, and Macklemore have discussed the dangers of addiction, sharing their own experiences. This will help reduce the intensity of the negative thought and perceive the thought in a more adaptive, realistic way, positively influencing the way you feel and what you do. Along with “Zoloft,” it’s one of several of her songs that gets candid about drug abuse and depression, which she says often go hand in hand but aren’t talked about nearly enough.
- These misconceptions often include beliefs that addiction is a choice or a moral failing.
- What’s more is that Lil Peep had uploaded footage to Instagram of himself doing the drugs that killed him just hours before his death.
- I wouldn’t particularly consider myself a Lil Peep fan, but such a young rapper, with an upward-facing career and burgeoning fan base, whose life was suddenly cut short — I could not believe the news.
- Minus one relapse he’s had with codeine, Macklemore has been clean since August of 2008.
- Since molly’s fading popularity and the increase in codeine mentions, other over-the-counter and prescription drugs have crept into hip-hop’s woozy landscape.
There are a million different opinions online, but when it comes to your life, health and wellness only peer reviewed reputable data matters. At Recovery Unplugged, all information published on our website has been rigorously medically reviewed by a doctorate level medical professional, and cross checked to ensure medical accuracy. 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 addiction.
