Over the past few months, “molly” has become the drug of choice to name drop in hip-hop and Kendrick Lamar has had enough.
“Sometimes you have the trends that’s not cool,” Lamar told MTV about the embracing of molly in rap.
From a business standpoint, Rick Ross lost his sponsorship deal from sneaker giant Reebok for his controversial lyric that described a date rape where molly was involved. Juicy J, Kanye West, and T.I. are all rappers who’ve referenced molly in the past but Lamar believes this wide-spread usage isn’t good for the rap culture.
“You may have certain artists portraying these trends and don’t really have that lifestyle and then it gives off the wrong thing. And it becomes kinda corny after a while. It’s really about keeping hip-hop original and pushing away the corniness in it,” Lamar said.
theGrio opinion: Is mainstream hip-hop a grave threat to our children?
Trinidad James says no to drugs
Atlanta rapper Trinidad James’ meteoric climb into mainstream hip-hop over the past year can be attributed to his hit single “All Good Everything,” but his lyric ‘Popped A Molly I’m sweating!’ became a popular hashtag via social media. Critics believe James’ success is a byproduct of the drug rap genre being so popular.
During a recent interview with XXL, James is aware that doing recreational drugs are wrong, but believes indulging in any activity without balance can become habit forming.
“Honestly man, life is based on moderation. Anything that you do, you have to do it in moderation. People overdo it and it turns into people OD’ing or dying, but it’s all about how extreme you go with it,” James said about Molly usage being celebrated in popular rap. “Some artists have made some of their most incredible music on drugs, so for me to say that drugs are messing up hip-hop, I’m not going to say that. It’s just that some people really believe so much of what we say, and people honestly don’t understand moderation.”
What’s next?
Trends within music come and go, but one can make the argument that Hip Hop’s infatuation with molly may have done more harm than good culturally. Kendrick Lamar #hashtag proclamation to move past the molly craze appeared at end of his video for “B*tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and believes molly rap now stymies the growth of hip-hop as an art form.
“When everybody consciously now uses this term or this phrase and putting it in lyrics, it waters the culture down,” Lamar explained. “So it’s really just time to move on.”
Do you believe molly rap still has a place in hip-hop? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
You can check out more of Kyle’s music coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at @HarveyWins.