He also starred in Battle in Seattle, a 2007 film about the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization protests. Benjamin has made appearances in Families, The Shield (he plays Robert Huggins, a character that originated in an episode titled “On Tilt” from Season 3 in 2004), Be Cool, Revolver, Semi Pro, and Four Brothers. He was also cast as Percival in Outkast film Idlewild, released on August 25, 2006, alongside the album of the same name. He voiced a crow in Charlotte’s Web, a movie adaptation of the 1952 children’s book. He played Fredwynn on the AMC series Sobriety Dispatches from Elsewhere, and was featured in the 2022 adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel White Noise. If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help.
Your Turn: How to Rap (or Live) Without Weed
This is a list of rappers who are sober and recovering from former addictions. He rapped about drug use on his first few albums, but it was not until after 2004’s Encore that he sought help. When Cole repeats the phrase “made it out, it gotta mean something,” it’s as if he’s carrying the weight of his city’s deferred dreams. Much like the athletes whom he seeks to emulate, Cole becomes a vicarious bearer of hope. In his younger years, Eminem had a serious pill-popping addiction, something which is generally well-known if you’re a fan of the MC. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he confessed that he’d be taking up to 60 Valium and 30 Vicodin pills per day during the peak of his addiction.
Macklemore – Kevin
Arguably the most successful rapper of all time, Eminem has had an incredibly successful career after overcoming a long history of substance abuse. His hit single “Lose Yourself” even references his struggles with drugs and alcohol in its chorus. Eminem has been open about how he was able to win his battle with addiction, citing his family and faith as the major factors in his success. In an interview with Fox News, Budden spoke about the dangers Sober living home he’s experienced with the party-popular drug. 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. 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
“But when is the party going to be over? You can’t be 40-years-old and still in the club. The party don’t have to stop, but the party is gonna stop you.” Eminem’s drug-fueled adventures in his younger years provided inspiration for some of the most colorful and depraved rap songs ever recorded. Eventually he developed a serious pill habit Valium and 30 Vicodin pills per day — that culminated in a near-fatal methadone overdose in 2007. Tyler has been open about his struggles with addiction and his road to recovery. After almost dying from a drug overdose, the rapper decided to clean up his act. The first time was in December 2020, when he voluntarily sought out professional help.
The finger-wagging judgment on “Once an Addict”—one of the only songs where J. Cole takes a break from conceptualizing his friends’ lives and careers to allow insight into his own upbringing and family—finds him admonishing his mother for drinking during her husband’s infidelity. His glaring narcissism seeps through the cracks, an ironic lack of empathy and understanding for the woman who’s working day and night to keep him fed.
Choose Recovery Over Addiction
- Macklemore penned this tribute to his friend Kevin, who passed away from an overdose of prescription pain pills in 2010.
- He was dating a woman there, and he had developed a friendship with comedian Tom Segura, who had launched a pair of successful podcasts that he had planned to relocate to Austin.
- Common is well known as a conscious rapper who advocates for love, peace, and all things pure.
- His drug addiction began in 2002 when he started taking pills for his insomnia.
- In February 2016, rapper Macklemore released “The Unruly Mess I’ve Made,” a record in which addiction is a recurring topic.
- Macklemore released his debut album The Language of My World in 2005, then fell off the grid for a few years, crippled by addiction to alcohol, oxycontin, lean, and various other drugs.
- These quotes reflect the diverse perspectives and experiences these artists have with sobriety, offering insight into their personal lives and the challenges and benefits of living sober.
For more information on our age-specific rehab program, or to learn more about the influence of rap music in the development of substance abuse and dependency, please feel free to reach out to Evoke Wellness at Miramar today. Many have penned verses about taking drugs to cope with trauma and depression. Artists including Kid Cudi, Big K.R.I.T., Joe Budden, and Macklemore have discussed the dangers of addiction, sharing their own experiences. But J. Cole doesn’t allow for nuance or exceptions because he’s too busy making sure you understood the first half of his latest conspiracy regarding taxes, unspecified corporations, and someone’s funeral. KOD is a conscious album responding to hip-hop’s obsession with prescription drugs and self-medication—and in this respect, it has every right to point some fingers. Yet, Cole is the type of rapper who’s still not comfortable admitting he doesn’t know everything, sometimes drowning in ideology that’s less than imaginative.
He was able to turn his life around in 2011, and since then he has been open about his sobriety journey. While many rap artists like to boast about their sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle, it’s landed many in prison, many broken, battered and bruised, and a number even six-feet under. Multi-talented Pharrell Williams chooses to abstain from drug use. “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,” he told Paper Magazine. Pharrell once ate six weed brownies and passed out in a bathroom, as he recalled in a 2013 interview with Nardwuar. Speaking of Sheeran, it was talking with Elton John, who also sober rappers has a bad addictive personality, that also helped.
Top Sober Musicians You’ll Want to Put on Repeat
He has since returned to sobriety and is currently teaming up with President Obama to raise awareness for the country’s growing opioid epidemic. As a youth, Lecrae earned the nickname “Crazy Crae” for his wild drunk stunts. “I tried pretty much every drug there was to try, except for heroin and crack. I was out there,” he told Complex in 2012. Young decided to become sober in 2011 because he wanted to be more alert and he was curious about what sobriety would feel like. Cooper says that he drinks soda at bars instead of alcohol which helps him stay sober.