Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is myself, Andre Grant and Ural Garrett. Collectively we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.
Why Do Creatives Take Drugs?
Andre: The outpouring of support and love after Yams death was mad real. Realer than any single other drug related death by a person of color since Pimp C. Remember those wild drug campaigns in the 80s and 90s about kids catching their parents using? And remember how that was a smokescreen for the Feds or cops kicking in doors for what were then irredeemable crimes with impunity? The U.S. has a long arduous history with drugs and, well, racism. The opium laws of the late 1800s were targeted towards the Chinese flooding in from the West Coast. Heroin laws? Those targeted African-American males in the 1900s. All that “War On Drugs” stuff? That didn’t happen until 1971, when, one can only imagine, a severely repressed Richard Nixon decided the hippies were taking over and the only way to stem the tide was to declare a war on substances that had been ingested legally for years and freely for centuries. Plus, like, socioeconomic capitalist environments lead to people getting their feelings hurt. Creatives are consistently in their feelings and so it follows that American creatives ingest drugs to ease the pain of an existence often lauded into absurdity or ignored into oblivion.
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Let’s boil that down into the Hip Hop sphere, and say that Hip Hop inherited their drug addiction from Rock, from R&B, from the wild Jazz hearts of Bird, Davis and Coltrane. That the creative lives of the criminally marginalized should also be filled with recreational drugs is a no-brainer. No one would even bat an eye if we found our favorite Rock or Pop star on a floor surrounded by white in some late 70s haze. So why do we sinisterly stereotype those within the Hip Hop community when tragedy strikes in relation to drugs? There’s no doubt a reason why the entire A$AP Mob crew came out to humanize Yams by referring to his sleep apnea as the cause of his death. In my estimation, it is because they did not want him to be turned into some kind of slogan, some meme, some watered down plea by some senator for drug reform or some other such thing. There’s no doubt that creative folks will continue to take mind altering or emotion alternating substances to death within this American life, and let’s hope the deaths of Hip Hop artists and creatives due to drugs (however tragic) lead to the humanization of that person and not the condemnation of an entire race or genre.
Ural: The entertainment industry is filled with numerous stories of those who have died from reasons related to drugs. That’s just a way of life. Artists take drugs for a several reasons. Some partake in the activity in enhancing their abilities to create, escape a bad reality or just enjoy the experience. Too much in excess or incorrective usage will lead to devastating results. On that level, context and logic doesn’t mean much. Those deceased becoming the trending headline or topic of discussion for the day were once human beings with significance to someone. Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Philip Seymour Hoffman and others could all attest to that notion. Hip Hop isn’t any different. Pimp C and Ol’ Dirty Bastard couldn’t serve as better proof. Like rock(or any contemporary American music), drugs and Hip Hop go hand in hand. Matter of fact, there are even various sub-cultures represented by consumption of chemical compounds. There’re stoner cliques, lean culture, psychedelic crews and all else in-between. Today’s rock stars aren’t always shooting heroin, spending millions on cocaine or binging on alcohol. They’re enjoying pre-rolled blunts, sippin syrup and poppin pills. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Case and point, the recent news regarding A$AP Yams’ death by acute mixed drug intoxication, including opiates and benzodiazepine. The announcement of his passing in mid-January was met with sorrow and respect for someone who essentially helped stabilize New York Hip Hop on a commercial level. Let Long Beach rapper/producer Joey Fatts tell it, he even kept folks off the streets. When one does so much to help a wide amount of people, the causes of death are irrelevant. If he enjoyed recreational drug use, that doesn’t make him a bad person or irresponsible person.
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Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
Ural Garrett is an Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
