It shouldn't come as a surprise that Vic Mensa is against pill popping, self-medicating, and opioid use in general-- the socially and politically-outspoken rapper has already aired his thoughts on the subject in a few interviews during the press run for his debut album The Autobiography. The Roc Nation-signed artist is currently on tour with Jay-Z for the 4:44 tour, and during the tour's recent stop in Montreal, we chopped it up with Vic for a quick interview that dove into The Autobiography (stay tuned for more from the interview in the coming week), what it's like to be on tour with Hov, as well as the newly-invigorated debate, or discussion, on opioid use in hip-hop.
I say "newly-invigorated" because Lil Peep's tragic death has stirred emotions in the hip-hop community, with members speaking out against it more aggressively than before, some even attempting sobriety for a first time. For others though, pill popping is still a hobby of choice.
During our interview we asked Vic if there's a way he can intensify his message, in the wake of Lil Peep's death, especially so.
"I think the shit that these n*ggas are doing is lame, point blank," Vic says. "Just like, taking pills on Instagram and doing all that shit. I think it's fucked up, and I don't agree with it, I don't agree with that shit being done in the first place. RIP Lil Peep. He was talented and gone too soon. I think we gotta put on a new lens and look at this shit, with people dying left and right."
He went on to share some personal stories and strengthened his stance on the matter. "This is something that is close to home for me because I watched most of my friends really going through the same fucking cycle. Personally, I never really fucked with Xanax. I never really fucked with Xanax or lean, I had my own issues and my own vices. But Xanax and lean, they always made me feel dumb, so I never involved myself with it. But I watched my friends just becoming different people, doing like five bars, six bars, drinking lean, until n*ggas start having seizures and it's like, okay, well you about to die, tryna convince them to chill out, and luckily they did chill out. Whereas another one of my boys, he didn't chill out, and he got off six bars, and he busted in a crib and shot somebody. Now he's about to do 20 years or something like that."
"Man, you're a grown man, what you do with your own body is your business. But when you got, 15, 14, 13, 12 year-old kids watching your every move, they wanna dress like you, they wanna talk like you, they wanna walk like you, they wanna be you, and you're popping pills on Instagram, I ain't got no respect for that."
What are your feelings on this subject? We'll be rolling out more from our interview with Vic next week, so check back with us on Monday.