Travie McCoy Opens Up About Battle With Addiction

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Travie McCoy details canceling tours due to heroin use, and how he beat addiction.

Travie McCoy is making a massive comeback nearly a decade after releasing his debut studio album, Lazarus. The Gym Class Heroes frontman has seldomly released new music in the past 10 years but he's been slowly unveiling new singles like "Spoonful Of Cinnamon" and his latest, "Love Me Back To Life" in preparation for his official sophomore release.

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The rapper chopped it up with HNHH this past July where he discussed the legacy of As Cruel As School Children, working with El-P, discovering Tyga, and so much more. During the interview, the rapper explained the struggles he faced with substance abuse while touring with Gym Class Heroes and establishing his solo career.

"I was a professional bridge burner at one point. One, I never did drugs with anyone else. I’d always be isolated and I never wanted people to know that I was on drugs. But it’s hard for people to think you’re not doing drugs when you’re like drooling on yourself," he explained. But his addiction began to take a toll on his career, beyond just the creative aspect. He said that tours and shows were being nixed until the one morning where he woke up and threw all of his pills out.

"It took one morning waking up and just going to my medicine cabinet and throwing my pills away and saying, like, 'I’m choosing to live.' I never thought I’d see 30, bro. Real talk. And I’m turning 40 next month. But that morning, I woke up like 'I need help.' That’s all it takes," he explained before offering advice to anyone who has struggled or is struggling with addiction.

"If there’s advice out there I can give to anybody going through what I went through — all it takes is to tell somebody you need help. Tell somebody you really trust that you need help and they’ll help you," he said.

Check out the full interview here


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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