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Bow Wow Opens Up About Being Addicted To Lean Following Mac Miller Overdose
Rapper says he “almost died” because of his addiction to cough syrup concoction.
In the wake of Mac Miller’s death, Bow Wow is speaking out on his own struggles with drug addiction.
Miller died on Friday at the age of 26 of a suspected drug overdose. Following his untimely death, a number of artists have paid tribute to him — both on stage and via social media — and while Bow Wow did not mention Miller by name, he opened up in a series of tweets this week about his previous addiction to lean that got so severe that he “almost died” from it.
After posting a message for “the youth” to “stop with these dumb ass drugs,” the 31-year-old rapper, whose real name is Shad Moss, revealed that he was heavily partaking in drugs when working on “Face Off,” his 2007 joint album with Omarion.
“I was high off lean everyday!” he wrote, referencing a dangerous concoction, also known as “sizzurp,” that’s created by mixing cough syrup with soda and hard candy, according to DrugAbuse.com. “When yall saw me on BET going off on torae i was high off lean.”
“My attitude everything changed,” he continued. His fans and his family “started to turn on [him],” he claimed, and even though he never promoted the drink in his music, he drank it regularly. He went on to recall one memorable experience while touring with Chris Brown in 2007, when he was “sipping 4’s at least 7 times a day,” and passed out after performing a show in Cincinatti, only to wake up in the hospital suffering through withdrawal.
“I never felt a pain like that ever,” he wrote. “It was summer but i was walking round with 3 hoodies on because i was so cold. I missed the chicago show of that tour baltimore show BECAUSE I WAS F--KING HIGH AND SICK!!!! that s--t is not cool and i was doing it to be cool!”
After promising to be more vocal about his own past, he revealed that he “almost died f--king with syrup.”
“To this day im affected my stomach will never be the same and it hasnt been,” he continued.
He went on to issue one last warning, not only to young artists in the industry but to “all the kids around the world.”
“We cant lose no more of you,” he wrote. “Not one! I love all yall. The young artist all the kids around the world.. dont follow a trend. Break the cycle.”
Following Miller's death, Bow Wow posted photos of himself with the late rapper on Twitter, alongside the caption, "Rest easy young GOD."
[Photo: Shad Moss attends his Rolling Out’ Cover Reveal Party at Philipp Plein Store at Phipps Plaza on July 12, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. By Paras Griffin/Getty Images]
