Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav is opening up about his substance abuse and journey to sobriety. The 63-year-old publicly has opened up to share that he spent thousands of dollars daily on drugs.
Flavor Flav — whose legal name is William Jonathan Drayton, Jr. — made the revelation during an appearance on the podcast “Off the Record with DJ Akademiks.” The artist said that for six years straight, he spent between $2400 and $2600 on crack every day before getting sober.
“There was a time that I was spending $2,400 to $2,600 a day… for six years straight; you do the math,” he said. “That’s how much I spent on drugs.”
Drayton also told the podcast host that at one point, he was selling the drug while using from his own supply. The rapper reportedly has been sober for more than two years.
“I ain’t gonna lie, I sold a lot,” he said. “But I was my best customer … I guess God wanted me to live. And he knows that I’m a mouthpiece to the world. So, I feel that God let me live through that, so that way, I could teach people about the mistakes that I made. And hopefully, they won’t make them later on in life. Drugs are easy to get on, and they’re hard as hell to get off of.”
The Public Enemy co-founder added that he kept his drug use secret and people around him would sometimes try to figure it out. “I never really let people know exactly what I was doing, you know what I’m saying?”
Drayton posted a message on Twitter on Jan. 31 following the podcast, saying that being sober has been a journey and he is ready for a comeback.
“Ya boy is always honest with who he was,,, and my sobriety has been a journey,,, but I’m here takin accountability,” he wrote. “And tryin to make sure y’all don’t make the same mistakes I did…. Like my man LL says,,, Don’t Call it a Comeback!!! But who’s ready?!!!”
The 63-year-old also said he wanted to help others get sober. “The point of my story is to share that if I can get clean,,, anyone can get clean,,, I am real proud of me being clean today…”
He added, “Like my man LL says,,, Don’t Call it a Comeback!!! But who’s ready?!!!”
