Last week, Fredo Santana passed away at 27 years old. In October of 2017, Fredo opened up about his near-death experience caused by kidney and liver failure. "Hopefully I can be the face to show n****s to slow down an we got our whole life ahead of us fuck being rock stars gettin high," he tweeted before sharing that he was planning on getting help and considering rehab.
Since then, the conversation around drug abuse in music has picked up again. After Lil Peep's death in November of 2017, many artists came forward to denounce the glorification of drugs. Lil Uzi Vert said he was going to try to kick his drug habits, and California rapper Mozzy did the same. Both Lil Pump and Smokepurpp started off the year by announcing their plans to stay off Xanax in 2018.
After Fredo's death, even more artists are speaking out. DJ Mustard dumped out a bottle of lean and shared video footage, saying, "It's over. Fuck this shit." Lil Xan has continued his anti-Xanax campaign, and asked fans to join him.
You are doing fake ass heroin. You don’t think it’s that crazy cuz you can say to yourself “I’m not doing heroin it’s lean” but you are just doing fake ass heroin. I’m honestly fucking sick of hearing about people dying from this shit and i hate that i have a song about it cuz it’s irresponsible and fucking lame. I paid the price of actual heroin with my health, my freedom and close friends lives and it’s nothing to celebrate. Do what you gotta do but at least be honest with yourself about what you are doing. Take care of yourselves, RIP Fredo RIP Yams
Virginia-based rapper and producer Lil Ugly Mane also spoke out against drugs publicly, and he got more personal than most in sharing his own experiences. In a message on Facebook he wrote:
The tragic losses of Lil Peep and Fredo Santana have served as a wake-up call for a lot of artists in hip-hop especially, and some are using their platforms to try to make a change and speak on the negative effects that come with drug abuse. As Lil Uzi Vert's follow-up response indicates, old habits are hard to kick.
