Being part of the music industry for over two decades now, I get the chance to see trends become trends. If you hover around the scene long enough, you can see something about to takeoff that may be nothing transition into someone or something else at the moment. I felt that way when it came to codeine. The now extremely popular drug started off as an underground thing that only a few really knew or did initially.
I first came in contact with the habit while traveling back and forth to Dallas, Texas in the mid-2000's. Back then, artists like Paul Wall, Dj Mike Watts and Mike Jones were keeping up a tradition started by Dj Screwed.
Jones were keeping up a tradition started by Dj Screwed. I would see them walk by with tall styrofoam cups, taking sips every few seconds. Someone had to tell me what they were doing. While lean was a Texas staple, the habit of pouring codeine in a cup and mixing it with something like Sprite and adding candy like Jolly Ranchers for flavor, it was happening in Philadelphia too. Beanie Sigel's second album, B. Coming, featured a song with Bun B called "Purple Rain" where they spoke about their penchant for sipping slow. When the Texas music scene made it to the MTV crowd, you began to hear more about the use of "syrup" as it was commonly known then in music and saw it music videos. It wasn't long after that I would begin to see people in regular, everyday life doing it.
Drink Away the Pain
KNOWLEDGE