McCrerey 1

Ryan McCrerey
Karen Tucker
ENC 2135
19 July 2016

The Influence of Drugs on Music

For hundreds of years, drugs and music have crossed paths and influenced each other. From
Native Americans using psychedelic substances such as peyote, to Eric Claptons song,
Cocaine, one thing is certain, although throughout the ages the popularity of certain drugs in
music has varied, musical artists have always experimented with drugs.
Upon reviewing music over the ages, it was observed that across all genres, drugs have
played a part in the creative process of making music and the way certain artists lived their lives.
As time has progressed, new drugs have been discovered and created which is why with the
changing of times; newer genres embody a panorama of drug use, but the trend of drugs with
music has only increased.
The turn of the twentieth century up until the beginning of World War II was a time when
cannabis use was popular amongst jazz musicians (Mirhej 4). Catalyzed in New Orleans in the
19th century, jazz has always been associated with drugs; beginning with alcohol and progressing
into other substances. Jazz musicians of the time smoked cannabis as they believed the effects

McCrerey 2

made them more creative and helped them focus on music. In 1916, a popular saxophonist by the
name of, Red, was interviewed by a magazine and explained how cannabis use was common
amongst fellow jazz musicians and the community. Red stated, Marijuana to me is just like the
next-door neighbor, (Mirhej 8). This quote establishes the prevalence of cannabis in the music
scene from as early as the 1900s and gives a firsthand perspective on just how common it was.
Eventually jazz musicians began experimenting with other substances besides marijuana
and alcohol, and from the period at the end of World War II, up through the sixties, heroin
entered the jazz scene. This was a time period of heroin addiction amongst several Jazz artists as
well as the use of stimulants. Heroin became popular quickly amongst jazz musicians such as
Billie Holiday, as it offered a new feeling and a new high, as well as an escape from personal
problems. First becoming popular in New York after World War II, by the sixties heroin was
considered hip amongst most of the jazz community. A quote which exemplifies this from a
saxophonist of the time, Jackie Mclean, Heroin came on the scene like a tidal wave. ...I mean, it
just appeared after World War II. And I began to notice guys in my neighborhood nodding on the
corner, and so we all began to find out that they were nodding because they were taking this
thing we called horse, (Mirhej 16).
Heroin became popular amongst the jazz community for several reasons. In the 1950s a
psychologist named Charles Winick, conducted an experiment where he interviewed 357 jazz
musicians on their drug use and his results found that 82% had been found to have at least tied
marijuana and 53% had been found to have tried heroin. There were several reasons as to why
heroin had gained popularity amongst these musicians and Winick found the main ones being
the, Excitement, attained from undergoing a change of consciousness with a group of people, a

McCrerey 3

way to cope with personal problems and a way to make the long bus tours more enjoyable for the
artists, (Mirhej 18).
With the decrease of drug use in jazz beginning in the sixties, a new branch of drugs
would become popular with new genres of music. Although cannabis would always remain a
common stay amongst musicians, with the turning of the decade a new drug by the name of LSD
would become very popular with a counterculture movement and a, Peace and Love, mindset.
The sixties were an age of rebellion and discontent. With the ongoing war in Vietnam and
a brewing civil rights movement in the U.S. there was a lot of turmoil and disagreement in the
country. This led to a movement which turned into a culture, and a group of people who would
attain the label of, Hippies. This led to a social revolution and a more liberal aspect on life.
With political protests becoming more and more frequent, music became a conduit which
contained all these factors and could have political influence while also promoting, Peace and
Love.
With the growing popularity of new music another thing grew alongside as well, the
explicit use of drugs. LSD and cannabis grew immensely in popularity as the, Hippies, of the
day had a desire to delve into a deeper consciousness and experience a, Mind opening,
phenomena. The contemporary artists of the day which had become synonymous with the hippie
movement used drugs such as LSD and cannabis, and promoted these substances through their
music, art, and subject matter. Whether it be the Beatles Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts
Club Band, with songs such as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds or Jimi Hendrixs album Are you
Experienced, through the music and art work of these albums it is easy to see the influence LSD
had on these compositions (Poon 164).

McCrerey 4

In 1966 the epicenter of the hippie movement was in San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury
district. A group that went by the, Digger, sought to create a new society in which they
administered food and money, as well as drugs for free. With the growing prevalence of LSD
use, California was the first state to make LSD illegal in 1966. This led to a rally in Golden State
Park where people wanted to demonstrate that LSD didnt make them crazy or a criminal and
LSD was freely distributed and taken right in front of police. (Bhaddock, The Hippie Counter
Culture Movement)
The growth and popularity of these drugs amongst the public happened for several
reasons, but the influence these musicians had and their open drug use certainly helped promote
tripping and getting high. The American Journal of Public Health published an article in 1992,
examining the types of music people listened to and the likelihood of fans of certain genres to
experiment with the drugs associated with that music. The experiment was conducted on 758
kids ranging from seventh grade to tenth grade and asked for musical preference, whom they
were likely to listen to the music with, and what substances they might try with the friends who
shared the same musical interests. The surveys results concluded that the different the genre, the
different the drug was that was likely to be tried (Clyde Dent et al. Galaif, Sussman, Stacy,
Burton, Flay, 124). This explains how over the course of time, different drugs have reached
popularity depending on the fads and popular music of the time.
An analysis conducted by Peter Christenson, Donald F. Roberts, and Nicholas Bjork,
analyzed Billboards top 100 songs for the years 1968,1979,1988,1998, and 2008. The study was
done to determine the percentages of these popular songs that contained any sort of drug
reference or implication to a substance. With the total sample being 496 songs, 10.3% of these
songs made a reference to alcohol and 5.7% made a reference to drugs. Moreover, from the year

McCrerey 5

1988 to 2008, any sort of substance reference in Billboards top 100 has increased from 12% to
30%.
Another sing to realize as well, is some of the biggest drug users and biggest musicians of
these time periods didnt reference drugs in their music. Iconic artists such as the Beatles and
Rolling Stones who had been open about drug use didnt openly state drug usage in their music
(Peter Christenson, Donald F. Roberts, and Nicholas Bjork 126). So even though the general
public was aware of what they were doing, it wasnt explicit in their music. From this it can be
seen that even though the total percentage from the sample was only 10.3%, we can assume that
the, Percentage, of influence is higher.
Denise Herd conducted a study where she analyzed rap songs from the year 1979 to
1997. From 1979 to 1997, songs referencing drugs increased by six fold as well as the language
glorifying, and in a sense celebrating drug use and from the study, it was determined that from
the year 1996 to 1997, 63% of rap songs contained drug references (Herd 168). This is easy to
acknowledge, just think about the most iconic rappers you know, whether it be Tupac and Biggie
or Jay-z and Snoop Dogg, all of these artists have openly talked about their drug use and
ironically they all sold drugs as well. This goes to show the prevalence of drugs in music and
especially the contemporary relationship between these two things.
While in the nineties the drug references mainly consisted of alcohol and cannabis along
with cocaine. Since the 2000s, other drugs have become more accepted amongst the public, and
this has led to a panoply of drugs to be referenced in contemporary rap music. One of the first
songs to openly mention the use of another drug besides those mentioned was, Purple Pills, by
Eminem. With the first verse being, I take a couple uppers, I down a couple downers, but

McCrerey 6

nothing compares to these blue and yellow purple pills, right from the beginning, his drug use is
mentioned and theres nothing discrete about it. We are in an age where artists have free reign to
say what they want in their music without receiving critical judgment from their audience. This
is demonstrated by the fact that when Purple Pills was released, it quickly climbed to the 19th
spot in Billboards top 100 (Shaka Shaw, The Evolution of drugs in Hip Hop).
Ever since the 90s, raves and dance music have consistently became more popular and
over the 2000s a rave culture has developed, in which many of the youth attend, EDM,
(Electric dance music) music festivals. Studies regarding EDM have often found a relationship
between this music and use of drugs. Given the atmosphere, quite a panorama of drugs are used
by some festival goers ranging from stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamines to drugs such
as ecstasy and LSD.
In 2008, a study was done by Megan Lim, Margaret E. Hellard, Jane S. Hocking, and
Campbell K. Aitken where they conducted a survey on 939 festival goers who ranged in age
from 16-29 years old. The study was conducted in Australia because over recent years there has
been a major surge in the Australian youth of people who are part of this new, Rave culture.
The results showed that out of 939 participants, 724 admitted to have used an illegal drug and it
is likely this number is higher. Out of this 724 people, 77% admitted to cannabis use, 74%
admitted to amphetamine use, 40% to cocaine and 40% to LSD as well as multiple other drugs
and substances varying in percentages (Megan Lim, Margaret E. Hellard, Jane S. Hocking, and
Campbell K. Aitken 440). The survey also determined which music genres were preferred by the
participants and with dance music being the most popular, it was also found that those who
preferred dance music showed the highest percentage of recent drug use.

McCrerey 7

Contemporary rap music has also seen a rising trend in ecstasy references, beginning in the mid
90s when ecstasy started becoming prevalent in the United States. Ecstasy, often going by,
Molly, has almost become synonymous with rap music with songs that mention it as openly as
in the song, Molly, released by Tyga in 2013. Even one music reporter stated, The most dope
of hip-hoppers have started poppin those little White pills from Ja Rule to Dr. Dre they all seem
to be at it (Diamond et al. 273).
Through rap music entering the club scene, it has caused ecstasy usage to increase
amongst the artists, but also the fans that listen to this music as well. Studies have shown that
music is number one non-school activity, among youth (Roberts et al. A-2). This has led to a
growing concern about the effects rap musics context has on youth and has even led to the
Center of Disease Control to collaborate with music executives to make sure drug references are
dealt with appropriately (Diamond et al. 270). This brings up the question if it is a negative thing
for these artists to mention and in essence promote these illicit drugs. With a growing number of
fatalities a year occurring specifically with, Molly, it is no surprise that this has received a lot
of attention and concern among health officials. Although there are some who feel that music
content should be regulated, this would be an infringement on the first amendment. Since the
trend between drugs and music has done nothing but increase over time, it is safe to assume these
two things will always have a relationship with one another.

McCrerey 8

Works Cited

Bhaddock. "The Hippie Counter Culture Movement (1960s) Mortal Journey." Mortal Journey.
N.p., 12 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 July 2016.
Christenson, Peter, Donald F. Roberts, and Nicholas Bjork. "Booze, Drugs, And Pop Music:
Trends In Substance Portrayals In The Billboard Top 100-1968-2008." Substance Use &
Misuse 47.2 (2012): 121-129. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
Diamond, Sarah, Rey Bermudez, and Jean Schensul. "What's The Rap About Ecstasy? Popular
Music Lyrics And Drug Trends Among American Youth." Journal Of Adolescent
Research 21.3 (2006): 269-298. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
"Music Preference as a Diagnostic Indicator of Adolescent Dru." American Journal of Public
Health 82.1 (1992): 124. ProQuest. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
Herd, Denise. "Changes In Drug Use Prevalence In Rap Music Songs, 1979-1997." Addiction
Research & Theory 16.2 (2008): 167-180. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Aug.
2016.
Lim, Megan S. C., et al. "A Cross-Sectional Survey Of Young People Attending A Music
Festival: Associations Between Drug Use And Musical Preference." Drug & Alcohol
Review 27.4 (2008): 439-441. SPORTDiscus with Full Text. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.

McCrerey 9

"New Study First to Quantify Illicit Drug and Substance Use in Movies and Music Popular
Among Youth: Officials View Findings as Tool for Collaboration With Entertainment
Industry and to Encourage Parental Action." PsycEXTRA Dataset Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
Poon, Stephen T. F. "Love, Peace And Psychedelia: The Role Of Symbols In The Sixties
Counterculture." International Journal Of Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies 3.1
(2016): 155-172. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Aug. 2016.
Shaw, Shaka. "The Evolution of Drugs in Hip-Hop." EBONY. N.p., 11 Sept. 2013. Web. 18 July
2016
Singer, Merrill, and Greg Mirhej. "High Notes: The Role Of Drugs In The Making Of Jazz."
Journal Of Ethnicity In Substance Abuse 5.4 (2006): 1-38. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 26 July 2016.

McCrerey 10