Glorification of Perscription Drugs
With the culmination of emo music and hip-hop, new SoundCloud rappers are honest about the dealing of their issues of mental health. However, in this process, they have normalized the usage of Lean (cough syrup + soda) and prescription drug, Xanax, as a way to ease anxiety-riddled teenagers' pains.
Rapper Lil Peep was an advocate for using Xanax and has perpetuated a culture of "coolness" surrounding the drug.
Who is Lil Peep?
Lil Peep is a recently deceased rapper, who died of a fentanyl and Xanax overdose. Lil Peep had suffered through mental health issues throughout his teenage-years and relied on his musical influences of emo artists like Marilyn Manson and rappers like Eminem to help deal with his pain. He thus was one of the first rappers to combine emo and rap together and immediately gained prominence with his authentic depiction of mental health. Once he found happiness in producing his own music, he still felt obligated to portray a dark, sad image for himself in order to sell his music.
Lyrics
Lil Peep's suicidal and drug-related lyrics resonate strongly with many teens
"The Brightside" - Over 22 million Streams on SoundCloud
[Chorus]
Help me find a way to pass the time (to pass the time)
Everybody tellin' me life's short, but I wanna die (I wanna die)
Help me find a way to make you mine (make you mine)
Everybody tellin' me not to, but I'm gonna try
Now I'm gettin' high again, tonight
Social Media Character vs Real Life
After his death, in interviews with Peep’s brother and his mother, both had said that Lil Peep was a happy and joyous kid who had suffered with mental health. But once his music started taking off, Peep and his managers realized that he had to play into the image he was portraying in his emo music. He played into the sadness by utilizing social media to show videos of him taking bars of Xanax or other prescription drugs in order to portray the nihilistic and depressed lifestyle he stresses in his music.
A chilling video Lil Pump posted to Instagram days prior to his death.
Messages
What Lil Peep and what lots of other SoundCloud Rappers are telling teenagers is that overusing prescription drugs to feel light and to not feel emotional pain anymore. But the constant discussion of Xanax and Lean in both these rappers' lyrics and social media personalities tell teenagers who do not face mental health issues to start using these highly addictive drugs to ease the slightest pain that exists. Xanax is a drug that is made to help those with anxiety, but teenagers, like these rap artists, are starting to over-exaggerate the meaning of anxiety. While Lean is solely recreational, it is glorified as a drug that will bring solace and calm to individuals. Teens think that breaking up with a significant other or doing poorly in school calls for the consumption of Xanax and Lean because that’s what all of their favorite rappers are talking about. This has created an epidemic of the increased use of prescription drugs among teens and more likelihood to buy cheap versions of such drugs, which are often laced with other harmful chemicals. Often times Xanax bars that are bought by teenagers contains two to four time the dose of a prescribed Xanax pill. Due to the influence of their favorite artists, teenagers are forcing their bodies to become dependent on the highly addictive benzodiazepine and codeine.
