The rapper says he was addicted to a popular drug.
It might be the subject of an often repeated line in Trinidad James' hit single "All Gold Everything," but Joe Budden says he knows firsthand that Molly is not a laughing matter.
The New Jersey rapper says he spent last summer binging on the designer drug — which is a powdered form of MDMA, the main chemical in Ecstacy — and barely made it out alive.
"I didn't see a problem with the fact that maybe five days would go by without sleeping," Budden told a Fox affiliate in New Jersey. "I didn't see a problem with the fact that maybe I was hallucinating at times. I didn't see a problem with the fact that I just couldn't get up and walk sometimes."
The drug has been a fixture in clubs for more than a decade, but it is seeing a surge in popularity after being shouted out in lyrics from several artists, including Kanye West, Wale and Rihanna. It's thought of as a "pure" form of Ecstacy, but as Budden's ordeal illustrates, its addictive high can give way to troubling side effects, including paranoia, sleep problems, tremors, blurred vision and more. Responsible for thousands of emergency room visits each year, it also has potential long-term effects, including liver, heart and kidney failure, and even death. And some studies have found that it can cause long-term damage to the brain.
"It just altered your thinking process dramatically and for a thinker like myself that was like nothing I'd ever experienced before," says the MC, who's third studio album, No Love Lost, was released this week.
He says he kicked the habit with the help of his loved ones, and thinks it's important to speak up about his experience. "Now everyone is speaking about Molly like it's the thing to do," he says. "I thought it was important for somebody, anybody, to stand up and say, 'you know, I did that, it's corny.' I'm just hoping that at the end of the day, it won't be me versus the entire music industry when it comes to who a 13-year-old should listen to regarding drugs."
Budden is currently starring in VH1's Love & Hip Hop.
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(Photo: John Ricard / BET)
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