During an episode of Apple Music’s Rap Life, music artists and executives Meek Mill and Rick Ross opened up about how they helped each other through substance abuse, Vibe reports.
With host Ebro Darden, the “Biggest Boss” discussed how he took charge as the oldest of the two after drugs led to medical complications that Ross wrote about on his 10th studio album, Port of Miami 2.
“That being little bro, it could be something that you walk into the studio, you walk into your homie, and you see your homie not all the way on his A game,” Ross said. “That’s one of the things that me and Meek most definitely had conversations about — vice versa, though.”
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The Miami native shared that he used codeine—a medicine used to manage chronic pain, according to the National Library of Medicine—and admitted to mixing it to create a drink known as “lean.” Ross mentioned how he would have studio sessions with Mill and saw him dipping into similar habits, making him want to change.
“Me drinking lean at a time and now, I’m taking medication two times a day because of this. And then you walk into a session, you see your little bro, ‘Aye man, we gotta tighten up on this sh*t,’” Ross said.
“It’s a lot of different ways we can have issues or back and forth, but we always got the money.”
According to XXL, Ross has to take a special medication due to his heavy use of lean in the past.
While promoting their new single, “SHAQ & KOBE,” Mill reminisced on his heavy use of lean at the beginning of his career. After Ebro hyped up his weight loss, he thanked his 2019 prison stint for helping him kick the habit, suffering from severe withdrawals.
“My stomach was bent over for like a year-and-a-half,” the Dreamchasers executive said. “I came home, 2019, I couldn’t smoke weed or really drink liquor like that. Before 2019, I was off the lean and all that. I changed my lifestyle — well, I thought I changed.”
Drug abuse has been prominent in the hip-hop community for years, fueling industry leaders like Master P to become advocates against drugs substance abuse. His daughter, Tytyana Miller, died in 2022 from an alleged overdose.
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