"What are your thoughts on the extensive theme of drugs in hip hop? Is it possible you would experiment with drugs considering how influential hip hop is to you?"

This is actually an interesting question, and I appreciate you asking this, so thank you. Drug use has been in Hip-Hop for as long as I can remember, I know it was way before me without a doubt, sometime around the 1980s I believe is when it was first mentioned.

I'd like to disclaim that I have never done any drug at this point in my life. I'm currently 19 years old. A lot of my contemporaries clown me for it, saying I'm a b***h or a p***y for not wanting to indulge. It's just that I know too many people personally whose lives have been destroyed by drugs, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and all that. But this isn't about my personal life and who I know. So I'll bring it back to Hip-Hop.

Some of the most notable drug related deaths in Hip-Hop off the top of my head are Pimp C, Yams, DJ Screw, Peep. Rest in peace to all of them. I don't have to sit here and tell you guys how precious their lives and careers were and how much more their life had in store for them. You all know that. But the fact is is that their lives, although different circumstances, they all ended in the overdosing of a drug. Accidental or Intentional, it still happened through drugs. Rest in peace to all of them once again. I speak with no negative connotation, I have love for all of them, and it is not in my interest to speak ill of the dead. A lot of drug issues can be fixed through rehabilitation and remedies. You can't fix death. That's why I never endorse any kind of drug use. 

I don't blame or fault any of their deaths. I'm writing this on the brink of Demi Lovato's heroin downfall, and one of the interesting things I've seen on Twitter is the response they're giving to her death versus the response they give Peep's death. This is the viral tweet I'm talking about.

I don't blame either of them for doing what they're doing/did. Obviously they're going through some shit. Every single drug addict is going through some shit. And they shouldn't be blamed for getting addicted. 

Again, I'm not supporting drug use. Drugs are fucking stupid and it's a terrible decision to make if you're contemplating on using them for the first time. If you're still thinking about it, hopefully I can somewhat convince you to stop. Because you're better than that and like I said, drugs are fucking stupid and they don't help in the long run. A lot of people tell me they use drugs because they numb the pain. But that pain's only being numbed, it's not being helped for. 

Of course, I've never done drugs so I wouldn't understand how those drugs are halting their pain. And of course, it's a lot easier said than done. It is a lot easier said than done. The #1 advantage that drug users have over me on this topic is their experience and understanding it WAY better than I do. And that sort of brings the credibility factor in this, how legit is my standpoint on something that I've never personally dealt with? I'm just the outside perspective. I've never gone deep into this stuff to know what to say. Perhaps I'd have to go into the drug world first and then out for you all to take my position seriously. Because then I have myself established in the conversation. But I'm going to refrain from that. I'm willing to not have my voice be considered credible in this discussion. Because I want to protect myself. I don't want to fall into drugs. I've seen what it does to people. Maybe my brother can speak on being against drugs and hopefully it'd resonate more than what I've said. After he makes it out the drug world, that is. 

In fact, some of the most important voices in Hip-Hop actually speak against drug use. Shoutout Uzi. There are a lot more but I don't have time to namedrop all of them. I have work in a few. 

Regarding experimenting with them - yes, Hip-Hop is very influential to me, that is true. And with that in mind, Hip-Hop has taught me that, despite its virality, drugs are dangerous and should not be used. A lot of the drug-influenced rap that I listen to contain themes of rappers using the drugs to hide their pain, and often times they warn the listener to not fall in the same trap as them. This kind of music allows a lot of drug users to relate, and it also gives heads ups to listeners like me, who have never done drugs before. Artists' intents aren't to get more people to do drugs (at least the music I listen to); if anything, they want you to stay away from them.

I remember I had a conversation one time with a girl who said she uses drugs for creativity purposes. And she's not entirely wrong - I've listened to so many psychedelic cloud rap songs that could only have been inspired by drugs. Word to Rocky, word to L$D.

But even Rocky knows that you gotta hop off at some points. This is off his verified annotation on Praise the Lord on Genius.

> If it’s 12 months out the year, maybe it’s sporadically a month here, a month there, a month there, three months out the year, I’m not smoking. I don’t know. Sometimes it might be more months than that depending on how I’m feeling. For the past three years, I’ve been off and on. Sometimes I take breaks. You gotta stop smoking when it’s things outside of artistry, and you got administrative shit to handle, or you just got other business inquiries. Sometimes you’ve gotta just be on point for it, and I had the privilege of being in artist form for a long time right now. But sometimes, I even stop smoking when it’s time to focus. Get in my zone. Sometimes you’ve gotta really have a clear head to do that.

For me personally, I don't think I need drugs to be more creative. I consider myself to be a pretty creative person, I don't need to take something to be more woke or have a cooler mind. Maybe it would make me more creative, it probably does to be completely honest. My favorite artists do drugs. Not overdose, but they do do it to chill out and relax. That kind of stuff is maintained, they have people around them making sure it's all in moderation. I don't know if I'd have those kind of people around me.

So I apologize to anyone who was trying to smoke with me. A lot of people tell me I'd be so chill when high. But I guess we won't find out anytime soon what I'd really be like. I care about me, and I don't need to mess around with something unnecessary just to prove myself or to be considered hip out here.

I might make a part 2 on this? But I don't know yet. There's a lot of stuff to figure out first.