Drug abuse is a pandemic in the entertainment industry and the world at large, and being able to overcome it is a sign that a lot of time, effort, and hard work has gone into the process.
Hype man and rap icon Flavor Flav is spilling all the details about his battle with crack addiction and how he overcame it.
Keep reading for the details.
The legendary hype man came clean on DJ Akademiks' podcast confessing that getting off hard substances was one of the most difficult things he's had to do.
Flav reflected on his past troubled journey with drug abuse, which nearly cost him his life and about a million dollars per year in cash. He was convinced his survival and deliverance from addiction were by divine intervention.
"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."
The Long-Island-born rapper confirmed he spent at least $2,400 daily on crack and would hide it from his friends and family, including Chuck D and other band members.
"There was a time that I was spending $2,400 to $2,600 a day for six years straight. You do the math. And that’s how much I spent on drugs.”
Flav revealed his drugs battle began in 2011, according to his book Flavor Flav: The Icon The Memoir.
The 63-year-old celebrated two years of sobriety in October, and during the worst periods of his addiction, he revealed he was spending almost $1 million on drugs a year.
Flav said he was his own biggest and best customer, and he had so much money to spend on crack back in the day.
"I ain't gonna lie, I sold a lot. But I was my best customer ... I had a lot of money at the time too, I was just doing the wrong things with my money," Flav recalled.
Born William Jonathan Drayton Jr., he explained that he kept himself and his drug use hidden until he could ultimately quit substance abuse and begin his journey toward normalcy in 2020.
He reminisced about what it looked like for the hip-hop scene back in the day, where their lyrics mostly revolved around making money from drugs sale.
"Talking about who can make the most money off drugs, who's balling off selling drugs. It was a competition thing to all of the hustlers."
He, however, pointed out the difference now, which is that people now talk about doing drugs and giving the younger generation the wrong idea of society and how to deal with drug abuse.
