American Drug Term Trends in Hip-Hop Lyrics

Journal of Public Mental Health, Article submission Word count: 1308 Tables & Figures: 0 & 2

American drug term trends in hip-hop lyrics

Authors & Affiliations:

Becky Inkster, DPhil 1,2,3*, Akeem Sule, MRCPsych 1,2,4,5*

1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge

2 Wolfson College, University of Cambridge

3 Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

4 Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

5 South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

 both authors contributed equally to this work and both authors are

corresponding authors (Email: [email protected])

Disclosures and acknowledgments: The authors have no conflicts of interest to report in accordance with The Journal of Public Mental Health policies. The authors have not received any financial support or funding for this work. The authors have no acknowledgements.

Introduction:

Drug culture has influenced a wide range of music genres. In particular, drug terminology has been documented regularly in hip-hop lyrics since the genre’s conception in the early 1970s. A striking demonstration of this phenomenon occurred in the mid 1980s into the 1990s when crack-cocaine surged through inner cities of America. 1 Hip-hop artists became ‘street epidemiologists’ who witnessed and documented these toxic environments. 2, 3 Symbiotic relationships developed between drug dealers and rappers, which transformed hip-hop culture. 4 Many ‘dealers-turned-rappers’ described the pervasiveness of this highly addictive substance that was destroying their communities. Several influential hip-hop artists began campaigning against ‘the crack game’ by promoting socio-politically conscious lyrics. 5, 6 The mid-1980s and early 1990s also marked the rise of the ‘Golden Age of Hip-Hop’ when hip-hop music attained worldwide popularity, prompting the mainstream usage of other drug terms, in particular, cannabis (a.k.a., weed, indo, chronic 7-9) in the early 1990s.

From hip-hop’s conception to current trends, its lyrics have reflected significant shifts in drug culture. This article explores the frequency of word usage of drug terminology in hip-hop lyrics spanning 3 decades of the genre. We explore how and possibly why different lyrical trends have emerged, risen and fallen out of popularity.

This article aims to provide clinicians and other mental health care professionals with an overview of evolving drug terminology as documented in hip-hop lyrics.

2 Journal of Public Mental Health, Article submission Word count: 1308 Tables & Figures: 0 & 2 Many young people throughout the world embrace hip-hop culture and so the information presented here might assist with the engagement of service users who listen to this genre and it might enhance the receptiveness of young people when receiving medical information about substances of abuse.

Method:

We performed electronic searches using the Rap Genius Rap Stats database 10 with verified annotations and text. 11 We constructed 2 plots showing word frequency on the y-axis against time on the x-axis from 1988 to 2015. Word frequency was defined as a percentage of the number of hip-hop songs containing a specific drug term (per year) based on the number of hip-hop songs recorded/produced (that year). Figure 1 is a plot of standardized

‘medical/pharmacological’ terminology (i.e., ecstasy, alcohol, cannabis, crack, cocaine, codeine, promethazine) whereas Figure 2 uses common ‘street’ terminology (e.g., molly, liquor, weed, crack, coke, crunk, sizzurp,). The order in which the key words are plotted is the same in both figures (i.e., molly relates to ecstasy etc.), except for the ‘street’ terms crunk and sizzurp that are defined later. For each drug we have illustrated the term with the highest frequency.

Generic ‘street’ terms with multiple meanings were excluded. For example, heroin is also known as ‘brown’ as well as ‘dope’; these terms were excluded because the former also represents ‘colour’ and the latter can also mean

‘cannabis’ or ‘exciting and cool’. We included crack and cocaine as separate key words because cocaine in its powder form is mainly snorted, injected or rubbed on the gums whereas crack-cocaine is mainly smoked.

Results:

First, we observed clear disparities between ‘medical/pharmaceutical’ and

‘street’ term frequencies (Figures 1 versus 2). It is not surprising that ‘street’ terms are referenced more frequently in hip-hop lyrics; however, these differences reaffirm the need for practitioners and mental health care professionals to be aware of such disparities and to make efforts to learn youth appropriate drug terminology. Second, we observed very little fluctuation of

‘medical/pharmaceutical’ term usage across time (excluding crack). In contrast, large fluctuations are observed amongst ‘street’ terms.

Discussion:

Not surprisingly, there is a strong disparity between ‘medical/pharmaceutical’ and ‘street’ terms for substances of abuse amongst hip-hop lyrics. Therefore, we recommend that practitioners and mental health workers familiarize themselves with youth-focused drug terminologies. This awareness might enhance dialogues with service users who relate to hip-hop culture and might improve the translation of medical messages about drug toxicity, tolerance, vulnerability, and the dangers of mixing drugs, especially while the adolescent brain is still maturing.

We highlight certain drug term trends and speculate about factors that might have contributed to these changes, including sociopolitical and geographical influences. Molly is a ‘pure’ powdered or crystallized form of MDMA (3,4- methylenedioxy-methamphetamine; similar to ecstasy) known for inducing euphoria. The frequency of the ‘street’ term molly has risen sharply since

4 Journal of Public Mental Health, Article submission Word count: 1308 Tables & Figures: 0 & 2 approximately 2010, when molly advocating hip-hop artists became increasingly popular, such as: Tyga, Wiz Khalifa, Kanye West, Juicy J, French Montana,

Trinidad James, Danny Brown etc. 12-15 This trend was preceded by an initial early-to-mid 2000s localized trend, likely due to the prominence of artist, Mac

Dre, the ‘ecstasy pioneer’ who started the ‘thizz hyphy movement’ 16 in San

Francisco’s Bay Area, California, USA. 17 Other artists from the ‘Bay Area hyphy movement’ campaigned for this drug. 18 Notably, hip-hop culture was once predominantly affiliated with inner-city African American listeners, but now reaches broader demographics in more suburban environments. 19

There was a substantial increase in use of street terms ‘crunk’ and ‘sizzurp’ in the early 2000s peaking around mid-2000s, during the emergence and dominance of

Southern hip-hop across America. References to these drugs have since declined significantly, but popular culture still promotes its use somewhat. 20, 21 ‘Crunk’

(a.k.a. crunk juice, crazy drunk etc.) is an alcoholic energy drink typically mixed with red bull, and is similar to wine in alcoholic strength. ‘Crunk’ was popularized by Southern American hip-hop artists, especially Lil Jon. 22 ‘Sizzurp’

(a.k.a. purple drank, lean, syrup etc.) is a combination drink typically composed of prescription strength cough syrup (i.e., promethazine and codeine), mixed with soft drinks, and flavoured candy. It is known for its euphoric effects, drowsiness and motor impairments. Southern American rappers famous for its introduction include DJ Screw and Pimp C who are both deceased, with theories linking their deaths to these prescription drugs. 23-25 Another southern rapper, Lil

Wayne, experienced multiple seizures leading to intensive care hospitalization with speculations that sizzurp was a key contributing factor. 26 Promethazine is a

5 6 sedating antihistamine and health warnings state that this drug must be used with caution for patients with epilepsy. 27

The term ‘weed’ surged during hip-hop’s Golden Age in the early 1990s. It peaked again late 2000s, possibly in relation to sociopolitical changes (i.e., decriminalization). References to liquor (i.e., alcohol) remained consistent across time, likely due to this legal substance being affordable and very accessible.

Certain pharmaceutical/prescription drug terms increased in usage in the early- mid 2000s (data not shown) during Eminem’s uprising and current trends have shown increases in references to drugs such as Xanax (e.g., by the artist, Drake

“can’t leave the crib without some Xanax”). The frequencies of such terms are relatively low compared to the drug key words included in our search.

While many hip-hop artists reflect on actual drug trends in their communities, there are some important caveats that need to be emphasized and we caution readers not to over-interpret these figures. It remains entirely debatable whether hip-hop artists are accurately reflecting and documenting their environment (as ‘street epidemiologists’) or whether they are referencing popular drug trends for other purposes. For example, the popularity of molly in lyrics may partly reflect attempts to gain popularity and increase record sales rather than reflect the artist’s personal drug taking experiences. Furthermore, we are not suggesting that word frequency is necessarily indicative of drug taking within the hip-hop community and other substances not mentioned regularly in hip-hop lyrics also need to be included in discussions with young people. Nonetheless, it is vital that medical knowledge is readily available in an accessible manner. 6 Journal of Public Mental Health, Article submission Word count: 1308 Tables & Figures: 0 & 2

We also encourage practitioners and mental health care workers to familiarize themselves with hip-hop artists and lyrics that promote anti-drug messages.

Examples include the anti-sizzurp statement by renowned artist, Nas: “I don’t lean, no codeine, promethazine” 28 and Kendrick Lamar – arguably the best hip- hop artist of the decade 29 - who goes as far as suggesting “Death to Molly” 30 in his music video that holds a funeral for the drug.

References

1. Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice. Craig Reinarman. University of California Press. 1997. 2. http://genius.com/Grandmaster-flash-and-the-furious-five-white-lines- dont-do-it-lyrics 3. http://genius.com/The-notorious-big-ten-crack-commandments-lyrics 4. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ice-t-premieres-vh1- documentary-about-crack-and-hip-hop-20110913 5. http://genius.com/Public-enemy-night-of-the-living-baseheads-lyrics 6. http://genius.com/Immortal-technique-peruvian-cocaine-lyrics 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronic 8. http://genius.com/Cypress-hill-i-wanna-get-high-lyrics 9. http://genius.com/The-pharcyde-splattitorium-lyrics 10. http://genius.com/Sameoldshawn-rap-stats-breaking-down-the-words- in-rap-lyrics-over-time-annotated 11. http://genius.com/Genius-about-genius-annotated 12. http://genius.com/Danny-brown-dip-lyrics#note-2229794 13. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/05/molly-drug- songs_n_3874047.html 14. http://genius.com/Tyga-molly-lyrics 15. http://genius.com/Kanye-west-mercy-lyrics 16. http://dregsone.com/post/93124583541/underground-classics-mac- dre-thizzelle 17. http://genius.com/Mac-dre-thizzle-dance-lyrics 18. http://hiphopwired.com/2012/09/21/molly-is-hip-hops-it-drug-setting- a-dangerous-trend/#sthash.2mZPMr7V.dpuf 19. Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. Monitoring the Future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2005. (NIH Publication No. 06-5882). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2006) 20. http://www.biography.com/people/lil-jon-21213283#lil-jon-&-the- eastside-boyz 21. http://genius.com/A-ap-rocky-purple-swag-lyrics 22. http://www.mtv.com/news/1437883/codeine-overdose-killed-dj-screw- medical-examiner-says/ 23. http://dangerousminds.net/comments/death_by_sizzurp_dj_screw_and_t he_lethal_purple_drank_hip-hop_subculture_of 24. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-pimpc5feb05-story.html 25. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2611151/Sizzurp-cough- syrup-used-Justin-Bieber-Lil-Wayne-pulled-market-amid-manufacturer-fears- abused-drug.html 26. http://www.mtv.com/news/1703830/lil-wayne-seizures-cause/ 27. http://www.patient.co.uk/medicine/promethazine-avomine-phenergan- sominex 28. http://genius.com/Nas-the-don-lyrics 29. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/on-the-charts-kendrick- lamars-butterfly-continues-chart-topping-reign-20150401 30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF8aaTu2kg0

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