Macklemore Opens Up About Sobriety and Relapsing During Pandemic

Many rappers abstain from drugs and alcohol for personal and/or professional reasons. Christian-rapper Lecrae refrains from smoking and drinking, yet that has not always been the case. “I was infatuated with gang life.” Lecrae told Complex magazine. “I tried pretty much every drug there was to try, except for heroin and crack. I was out there.” Although he lives a sober lifestyle today, he doesn’t consider drinking as a sin.

• I tapped out of my recovery community, and then I relapsed in July.
• “Well… I got a bowling problem,” he continued, evidenced in the 30 plus balls that he was pictured laying in front of.
• Though it may seem like drug use is conducive to creativity in the rap world, there are several rappers who prove that this is not the case.
• While hip-hop has its many celebratory moments from lyrics to accolades, in recent years, the genre has been hit with the negative consequences of drug culture, which has claimed the lives of many young rappers.
• “I was like, ‘Man, we’re doing too much—way too much.” He is also a vegetarian.

The masters of vegan-straight-edge hardcore, Earth Crisis make no bones about their vice-free lifestyle. ‘The Discipline’, from their game-changing debut ‘Destroy The Machines’, is no different – a thunderous statement of drink-and-drug-free intent. Ironically, ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’’s “wake up / drank” refrain became something of a frathouse drinking anthem, despite Kendrick himself writing the song about his family’s struggles with alcoholism, and the peer pressure that comes with sobriety. When the pandemic hit and we were all in lockdown, I finally got to press pause. I’d been waiting my whole life to have this period where I’m just at home and I get to hang out with my kids and I can’t even do anything else if I wanted to.

Sober Rappers Who Don’t Drink or Do Drugs

From Mac Miller’s fatal overdose to Juice WRLD’s drug-induced seizure, the link between death and addiction has been a recurring topic in rap. Kendrick Lamar is one of the most critically acclaimed rappers of this generation, and he has also achieved sobriety in recent years. Kendrick has spoken about sober rappers how he faced challenges when he first tried to get sober, but his hard work and dedication eventually paid off. He now credits his sobriety as a major contributor to his success. Kanye West has had a tumultuous few years, but his difficult journey also included a successful sobriety journey.

In an interview with the New York Times in 2016, the trap legend described that he had not been fully sober since the age of 21. He would drink alcohol, lean, ecstasy, and prescription pills. Many rappers are known for celebrating drink and drugs, from smoking weed, to sipping lean, to popping Xanax. But there are plenty of rappers who find that life is better without substances. Hip hop culture heavily promotes alcohol and drugs, from club tracks that endorse “popping bottles” to street anthems that glorify “sipping lean.” Some rappers have been vulnerable, exposing the dark side of drug use in their music. Many have penned verses about taking drugs to cope with trauma and depression.

Eminem

CLEAN Cause donates 50% of its net profits to help people in recovery, a cause the rapper is passionate about. J. Cole is a prime example of using the glamorization of drug use to fuel the commercial side of music. He raps about drug use to relate to a specific market but says in his personal life it’s really not for him. The rapper may slay lyrics about booze and drugs, but Tyler is surprisingly clean of it all. During an interview with the Creative All Star series, he shared, “I just never wanted to drink. It’s just something that didn’t interest me.”

And while the particulars they spoke of may be specific to each of them, the wider predicaments and decisions and quandaries and insecurities and dilemmas they spoke of are the same ones that confront us all. Even for those interviewees who chose to pepper their accounts with wry humor and funny stories, these were not lighthearted interviews. I first took a drink of alcohol when I was 14 years old. I stole it from my parents’ liquor cabinet, which was above the refrigerator.

What Do Sober People Do All Day?

“I had f—in’ 10 drug dealers at one time that I’m getting my s— from. Seventy-five to 80 Valiums a night, which is a lot.” A document of frontman Randy Blythe’s alcoholism, ‘King Me’ finds the modern metal icon confronting his destructive relationship with the drug, before flipping the situation on its head, and seizing control of his life once more. Comparing addiction to an unhealthy romantic relationship, Pink sings https://ecosoberhouse.com/ of her conflicted views on her nights out, and whether she’ll be able to do it without her alcohol crutch. As the singer is now teetotal, it’s fair to say she found the answer. Arguably the king of hardcore’s straight edge belief system, Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye screamed of his frustrations at an intoxicated nation time and time again. In and out in just 47 seconds, ‘Straight Edge’ perfectly lays out his mantra.

Notably, drug usage has troubled the career of Glo Gang boss Chief Keef. Not long ago Sosa finished his stint at a rehab center, though we know what his response was to that. In an interview with Billboard, fans were generally overjoyed to hear Chief Sosa admit he “don’t sip the lean no more,” considering the sloppiness of his last two mixtapes. The Pretty Little Liars actress told InStyle in 2017 that her decision to embrace the sober life all started when she decided to chop off most of her hair into the cute bob hairstyle she has now.