Eminem, Lil B make most drug references in hip-hop, survey reveals

Lyrics were analysed by US based drugs information and education organisation Project Know

The lyrics of Eminem, Lil B and Three 6 Mafia have been found to have the most drug references in hip-hop.

Lil B topped the survey when it came to mentions of cocaine and MDMA, whilst Eminem was found to have the highest number of references to prescription drugs and Three 6 Mafia the most lyrical nods to marijuana. The survey was undertaken by Project Know, who used lyrics database RapGenius to filter the artists’ lyrics for mentions of drugs. Project Know are a US-based drugs advisory and education organisation.

“Prevalence in this context is the total number of rap songs containing a given phrase in a year divided by the total number of rap songs in that year,” a statement from Project Know reads. “We have opted to leave out certain substances and slang phrases to prevent our results from being skewed by slang phrases that are often used in other contexts. As an example, heroin is commonly referred to as ‘boy,’ but the word ‘boy’ is also used in a variety of contexts that have nothing to do with heroin.”

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Other arists who ranked high in the cocaine reference stakes were Death Grips and Ice-T, whilst Lil Wayne and Lupe Fiasco similarly placed in the MDMA chart and Afroman and The Roots had a high number of marijuana references.

Eminem will play two shows at London’s Wembley Stadium this summer on July 11-12.

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