During a recent interview with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden, Rick Ross issued a stern warning about the risks of drug use.
Ross and Meek Mill were guests on “Rap Life Radio” to promote their new song “SHAQ & KOBE.” While talking about Ross and Meek’s business ventures, Ebro had to give props to Meek Mill’s newly slender physique, calling the Philadelphia rapper “mad healthy.”
Meek explained that it wasn’t always that way because he used to drink lean (codeine and promethazine mixed with soda), liquor, and smoke weed all the time.
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“That s—t kinda ruined my stomach,” he told Darden. The “Dreams and Nightmares” rapper went on to say that his friends and family would ask when he was dropping new music, but he couldn’t focus on that because his stomach was so messed up.
Ross added to the conversation, saying, “You see your homie is not all the way on his A-game […] That’s one of the things, you know, that me and Meek most definitely had conversations about.”
The MMG boss then revealed how years of drinking lean impacted his health in the long term.
“Now I’m taking medication two times a day because of this,” he said.
Fans praised Ross on Instagram for being so candid about lean’s effects on him.
“I’m glad he’s speaking out on this because there are a lot of young people out here who are destroying themselves, not understanding that they won’t have a healthy future.”
“Rick ! You will never know how many lives you saved TODAY by staying true to the GAME! The effects are real!”
“This was a real treat for two young rick black men tell they secret on how they kicked the drug habit by leaning on each other for support… The fact of the matter is you always need good people in your corner.”
Ross has spoken about his lean addiction several times, saying that it was the leading cause of his past seizures. During an appearance on “Big Boy’s Neighborhood,” Ross shared that he may have had 4-5 seizures over a 4-5 year span. In 2011, the rapper left concerned fans terrified after suffering from two seizures on his private jet within a span of six hours. He attributed the seizures to his codeine consumption and not getting enough rest.
In his 2019 memoir, “Hurricanes,” Ross shared that an unexpected seizure in 2018 caused him to defecate in the bed while sleeping beside a woman.
“When I went to bed that night, I had a seizure. But I didn’t come out of it the way I usually do,” an excerpt reads. “My breathing was all f—ed up. At around 3:30 in the morning, the girl I was with went downstairs and told Tomcat I had s—t myself and was foaming at the mouth.”
Lean usage has been prevalent in the rap community since the 1990s. Its popularity is attributed to Houston artist DJ Screw, who rapped about the highly addictive substance. Screw died at the age of 29 in 2000 due to a drug overdose related to his heavy lean usage. Even though the man who made it famous died from it, lean’s legacy has lived on in songs like “Sippin’ on Some Sizzurp,” “Codeine Crazy,” and “Wockesha.”
One of lean’s biggest proponents in rap was Lil Wayne. Wayne had a health scare back in 2013 that fans believed was due to his lean use. Wayne had three seizures in a row but said it was because he is epileptic. He noted that he had experienced seizures since childhood, but this was the worst case because his heart rate slowed down 30 percent.
Wayne didn’t blame lean for the seizures. Instead, he said the cause was “just plain stress.” However, it is still likely that lean played a role in the event. According to evokewellness.com, “For someone who suffers from a seizure disorder, chronic use of the substance is only going to make the condition worse.”
