Drugs Is Taking Over The Rap Community
Fentanyl, Weed, Percocets, Lean, Ecstasy, and Adderall are the main drugs that are leading rappers to death.
Some rappers use these drugs to make them feel good, use drugs to help boost their system to get through
the day and like doing it because it’s fun. But doing these drugs can lead to health complications, high risk
of mental health and death. There have been horrific stories of incidents where rappers lose their lives due
to drugs. My question is when is it going to end?
In the ArcGIS Story Maps article “ Drugs and Violence in Music ” in the rap industry rappers have been
vocalizing on the drugs they take as well the criminal activities they commit in their songs. Over the years
rappers have built an influence on taking different drugs which indicate them on promoting it in the
world. For instance, marijuana has been mentioned in different accounts in rap music for a long time.
During this present day marijuana is still being talked about. As for in the 80s and 90s, rappers mention
crack cocaine a lot and begin openly selling them.
In the 2000’s through 2010 xanax and lean has become too common in the rapping world and it started to
make rappers become addictive. These drugs have led many deaths to rappers for instance known rappers
as Lil Peep, Mac Millier, and JuiceWrld. Although Juice Wrld was planning to stop doing drugs. In the
article it quotes “ The mention of addictive pills like xanax and percocets along with other drugs have led
to countless addictions. The constant mention of drugs, whether it be the use of or selling of drugs has left
an imprint on the music world, and sequentially influenced thousands of people to partake in the world of
drugs”
It is sad to see how drugs are taking a toll on rappers’ lives. The effect of drugs can put people through
hardships and place them in dark places. As of now drugs are taking over the rap community which
affects music record labels, people’s relationship with family and friends and their lives. The question is
does drugs build rap or does it build a trend for rappers to talk about to gain more viewers and earn more
money? In the ABC News article “ Rap Music Glorifying Drug Use” rap music is idolized by drugs.
Studies by Denise Herd and her team from University of California, Berkeley discovered 341 lyrics from
popular rap music from 1979 through 1997.
Herd and her team come across that these rap songs have references favorable to drugs and mention the
consequences while using these drugs. In the continuing of their study they found different changes in the
type of drugs rappers mention in their song. “ These findings indicate “ a shift from cautionary songs,
such as those that emphasized the dangers of cocaine and crack, to songs that glorify the use of marijuana
and other drugs as part of a desirable hip- hop lifestyle” Herd said.
Herd is concerned about the potential negative impact of rappers’ lyrics on young children, since they may
misinterpret the messages conveyed in these songs. She advocates for parental supervision in monitoring
their children’s music preferences, since she has uncovered that rap music employs a code that resonates
with young listeners. In this day of age kids are partaking on the drugs they hear in rap music. It has led
kids to addiction and death. While kids listen to rap music they think that it’s cool to take drugs because
their favorite rapper is doing them.
Kids think that doing drugs can make them be something as they are. However, I believe that rappers need
to take the initiative in what they say in their music because not only do they have older audiences
listening to them, they also have kids that are in middle school and high school listening to them. Rappers
need to understand that the things they say in their rap music that pertains to drugs lead to kids trying and
thinking that it’s cool to do but in reality it’s not.
Last year on September 28th, 2023 rapper Ice Cube went on X ( twitter) and said “ Which gangsta rapper
from my era promoted doing drugs? Only things pushed were weed and alcohol. Many rapped about
selling drugs and how stupid the fiends were” . Ice Cube’s post has reached 164.2k views and people have
been commenting on his response. The rap landscape has seen significant transformations throughout the
years, with some current artists choosing to focus their lyrics on drug use rather than promoting
avoidance.
Luckily we have rappers Eminem, Lil Pump, Kid Cudi, and other rappers address there drug addiction
and it led them to find recovery. They had the same response into why they wanted to stop doing drugs
because they realize that they had to still be here for there family and also realize that doing these drugs
helped them to cope through there fame and also felt begin peer pressure. They realize that doing drugs
can take you into a dark place where it’s hard to get out.
I believe that rappers need to stop promoting drugs in there songs because young kids are influencing of
doing it and they are putting there life at risk. Rappers need to take the initiative that drugs will catch up
with them as they get older. We lost great people in the rap industry to drugs and we have to take a end of
drugs and find better ways to cope with peer pressure and mental illness because that’s the reason raps use
drugs because the fame is taking a toll on them and fame can change a person drastically.
