Sacramento rapper Mozzy has urged his followers to quit lean. Lucki, considered by some to be the father of SoundCloud rap, talks in Freewave 3 about his mother looking up the effect of lean on his kidneys. Even Lil Xan, easily most cavalier artist in this group, has considered changing his name. 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. The “Love Me for Me” singer was found unconscious after suffering a cardiac arrest in the Loews Minneapolis Hotel.
- His cause of death was the result of a lethal combination of heroin, cocaine, and Xanax.
- He was a Southern hip-hop icon, and he lived the life he rapped about.
- Things were very bad, and they should come to the hospital now.
- Codeine misuse can cause shallow breathing, lightheadedness, hallucinations or confusion, low cortisol levels and seizures.
As technology made a wider array of music easily accessible, the battle began to shift. Americans rushed to their local Sam Goody, Tower Records, or some other relic to listen to these messages in droves while Congressmen ranted about their version of morality to no one on CSPAN. Nuance was now being widely introduced into an issue that had been framed as black and white for decades.
Lifestyle
Eminem’s battle with addiction is documented in some of the rapper’s albums. Relapse and Recovery, in particular, are two concept albums that detail the rapper’s relapse and recovery from drug addiction. A shifting attitude toward addiction and mental illness has taken place among the rap community. From Macklemore speaking with Obama about opioid abuse to Logic rappers on drugs releasing a song about suicide awareness, more rappers today are bringing these subjects to the forefront. As the narcotic aesthetic becomes less fashionable, rappers are becoming more mindful of the message they are sending to fans. Artists including Isaiah Rashad, Lucki, Travis Scott and Danny Brown have spoken out about prescription drug addiction.
Yet another rapper who had a tragic accidental overdose is Steven “A$AP Yams” Rodriguez, the co-founder and visionary behind Harlem’s A$AP Mob collective. Another rapper who tragically fell victim to substance use is the Grammy-winning hip-hop star Coolio. The “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper, Artis Leon Ivey Jr., tragically passed away on September 28, 2022, at the age of 59. “High Powered,” “The $20 Sack Pyramid,” “The Roach,” “Let Me Ride” and other tracks from “The Chronic” exalt the benefits of smoking weed. In fact, the album’s title is a slang term for high-grade marijuana and the art for its cover references the packaging for Zig-Zag rolling papers.
Lil Scrappy
He also appeared on Jay-Z’s hit “Big Pimpin” in
2000 as well as “Sippin on Some Syrup” by Three Six Mafia. After serving a
prison sentence, he returned to rapping and was reportedly working on a
collaboration with Too Short when he was found unresponsive in his hotel room
on December 4, 2007. His death was ruled as accidental with and was attributed
to the effects of Butler’s heavy usage of “purple drank” in conjunction
with his pre-existing condition of sleep apnea. Alongside these deaths by misadventure, there are the victims of violent crime. Despite being accused of horrific abuse by an ex-partner, XXXTentacion enjoyed massive popularity before being killed in 2018 aged 20 as he was robbed outside a Florida motorcycle dealership.
- Artists including Isaiah Rashad, Lucki, Travis Scott and Danny Brown have spoken out about prescription drug addiction.
- Known for his hit songs like “My Mind Went Blank” and “Pimp Tha Pen,” DJ Screw also suffered a terrible fate from substance abuse.
- He’s released over a dozen albums since 2002, most recently Old Dog Almost Gone (2021), the first-ever multimedia album, and his latest collection of all original material, A Scientific Search (2020).
