Hip-Hop culture has shifted its stance on drug over the years and is now directly influencing kids to take drugs

Lil Peep and how Hip-Hop influences drug culture among youths  (Billboard )

The untimely death of Lil Peep has once again reminded us how deadly drugs are.

At this point, it sounds cliché but facts are facts and drugs kill. Lil Peep was 21 years old when he passed away from a suspected overdose of Xanax.

In this new wave of drug addiction, cocaine is no longer the drug of choice for millennials. Marijuana is no longer considered a drug in most parts of the world.

Lil Peep who died from suspected Xanax overdose  (People )

What we have left is pills and codeine which are damaging the lives of young people across the world.

Much has been written about the opioid and codeine crises in Nigeria but little has been said about the music culture that makes it thrive.

As sad as it is to say Hip-Hop is one of the driving forces for drug use among youths. It wasn’t so in the early days.

In the first generation of rap music, the pioneers had a “stay away from drugs” policy. By the 90s, that unofficial policy turned to “we hustle drugs to feed our families.”

JAY-Z is the epitome of the drug hustler who made it big in the rap game  (Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)

After this generation comes Lil Wayne, the genre-bending Auto-tuner who sold millions of copies in his prime with the double decked Styrofoam cup in sight.

Lil Wayne has suffered codeine induced seizures for years  (The Daily Beast )

Lil Wayne more or less popularized codeine in Hip-Hop even though it had been around rap music in a while. In the 00s, Lil Wayne would be the poster boy for the “I Am Drugs” generation in Hip-Hop.

The Cash Money rapper is no longer the force he was once but one of his legacies is the use of drugs. The generation after Wayne who is undoubtedly his musical offspring (check Lil Uzi Vert, Young Thug etc) would take the use of drugs higher by being dependent on opioids and another type of drugs.

Lil Wayne rocking a blouse  (VIBE )

Uzi who is more or less a rock star in this generation has never been shy about using Xanax to deal with his issues.

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When Lil Peep his friend passed away he tweeted that he wouldn’t judge him because he understood what he was going through.

Millions of kids listen to Uzi and co every day. At some point, some of them would start mimicking their drug use.

The influence of music can never be understated especially rap music that uses Hip Hop culture to sell its way of life.

There are too many drugs going on among youths cos their favourite rap stars are glorifying being addicted to them which wasn’t the case before.