Rap was also deeply engaged with the crack epidemic and War on Drugs. At the time, a common retort from rappers to criticism of their lyrics was that they were merely reflecting the reality of the streets. It was dismissed by some as an excuse but when it comes to crack, they were telling the truth.
As crack use increased throughout the ‘80s, so did the release of Rap songs warning users of its consequences. Kool Moe Dee released “Monster Crack” in 1986. Then in 1987, NWA released “Dopeman,” MC Shan dropped “Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing!” and Boogie Down Productions released “Say No Brother (Crack Attack Don’t Do It).” The following year, Public Enemy released “Night of the Living Baseheads,” NWA dropped “Fuck tha Police” and Slick Rick released “Hey Young World.”
There were other anti-crack hits: BDP’s “Self Destruction,” “Gimme No Crack” by Shinehead, “Just Say No” by Young MC, “Slow Down” by Brand Nubian, Notorious B.I.G.’s “Everyday Struggle.” These songs did not “glamorize” drugs, as many Rap critics claimed. On the contrary, they were practically uniform in their opposition. Moreover, they were hits played in heavy rotation by the young people who would ultimately put an end to the epidemic the songs reflected.
More than any other individual rapper Dr. Dre deserves recognition for his role in helping turn the page on the crack epidemic. As a member of NWA and producer for the group, he helped articulate the conditions of life in the ghetto on songs like “Dopeman,” “Fuck tha Police,” “Gangsta Gangsta.” Then in 1992, three years after leaving NWA, Dr. Dre dropped his magnum opus, “The Chronic.” The album is ranked by many, including Vibe, Spin, and Rolling Stone, as one of the greatest albums of all time. It also seems that during the decline of crack, when a new generation was beginning its youthful experimentation with drugs, it presented an alternative to hard drugs.
“The Chronic” is something of a time capsule. On it, Dre perfected his “G-funk” sound, production marked by groovy basslines, layered synthesizers, soulful backgrounds, and Funk and Soul samples. The album contrasts those sounds of a bygone era with lyrics exploring the issues of the day. Songs like “The Day the Niggaz Took Over,” “Lil’ Ghetto Boy and “A Nigga Witta Gun,” for example, are odes to street life during the crack era. More explicitly, Dre weaves throughout “The Chronic” documentary audio from the LA Riots
On top of that, Dre layered on an homage to marijuana. “High Powered,” “The $20 Sack Pyramid,” “The Roach,” “Let Me Ride” and other tracks from “The Chronic” exalt the benefits of smoking weed. In fact, the album’s title is a slang term for high-grade marijuana and the art for its cover references the packaging for Zig-Zag rolling papers.
Anti-Rap crusaders like C. Delores Tucker decried The Chronic’s glamorization of marijuana. They speculated that the album would encourage young people to pick up the drug, and it appears they were right. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, marijuana use among high school seniors had been on the decline since 1978 but it took off again in 1992, the year Dr. Dre released “The Chronic.” The NHSDA recorded a similar increase for individuals aged 18 to 20. Researchers with the Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice dubbed this new cohort of young drug users the “Blunt Generation” and noted in 2001 report that, “that the reemergence of interest in marijuana use was pioneered as part of the youthful, inner-city, predominantly Black hip-hop movement.”
Indeed, blunts were not mentioned at all in popular Rap songs released before 1990, according to one analysis. However, by the early ‘90s, 15 percent of Rap songs mentioned blunts. Later in the decade, that figure nearly doubled to 29 percent. “An important characteristic of the Blunt Generation is their seeming ‘disdain for hard drugs,’” researchers observed. “This is partly attributed to first-hand experience with drug-addicted family members and the criminal penalties of the ‘war on drugs.’”
This excerpt has been adapted from the book WHEN CRACK WAS KING by Donovan X. Ramsey. Copyright © 2023 by Donovan Ramsey. Reprinted by arrangement with One World, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Donovan X. Ramsey
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