I found out about a new hip-hop collective earlier today named Shoreline Mafia based out of Los Angeles, California. They are known to avidly drink lean, and were even a center-piece in a story on Fox about rising lean use among the youth. Listening to their music was making me think about the glorification of drugs in hip hop and more specifically the Lil Pump and Joyner Lucas controversy from December.
Lil Pump vs Joyner Lucas
So after listening to some Shoreline Mafia tracks, I went back and listened to Joyner Lucas' remix of Lil Pump's song, Gucci Gang. In this remix, Joyner takes shots at young rappers coming up...
All you new rappers don't be talkin' 'bout shit except doin' drugs
Wonder how you got a name (damn)
Sippin' lean, takin' E, Percocets, Purple drank, Xanax, everything sound the same, fuck
Joyner Lucas' version of the song was less about beefing with Lil Pump and more about his views on that culture as a whole. He said on twitter that the remix was not a diss at Lil Pump. Additionally, in a HOT 97 interview, he said "everybody has their vices. Everybody has their poison whether you smoke cigarettes, weed, do pills..., but do that shit behind closed doors... I just don't like the fact that these n****s sensationalizing the shit"
My Opinion
I think a lot of people can get behind what Joyner has said. Although, for these rappers, drugs are their reality. From their point of view, I don't think it's promoting the use of drugs; it's expressing what they are actually going through. I think one aspect that matters is connotation. I think rappers could do a better job at giving drugs a negative connotation in their songs while still maintaining the gritty realism in their music.
Let me know what you guys think in the comments!