Bloodbath, a 21-year-old rising star in the fashion and entertainment industry, is part of a generation where consuming opioids in any fashion is deemed culturally accepted. His perspective paints a sobering picture as a supply-side figure in the industry. "Personally, I have never been pressured to do anything or take anything. I will always do it on my own will. When Lil Peep and Mac Miller died, I just stopped popping any type of pills in their honor. It hurt. I didn't want to end up dead like them, and the impact they had on my life through their music gave me hope in life." Bloodbath's sentiment seems to resonate with many young adults his age. The impact of losing many composers to opioids has weighed heavy on the hearts of many consumers; however, the reality is that many people will continue to battle with their addiction.
In the field
The use of opioids has become ever more intertwined with the aesthetics of music. From the repetition of catchy hooks in the hip-hop community to the melodic choruses in alternative indie subgroups, the boast about drug use has increased in recent years. Paired with the rising mental health crisis in adolescents and young adults, ingesting opioids becomes the first coping option. According to Mental Health America, about 2.2 million adolescents (age 12-17) will experience severe depression in 2020. Depression amongst adolescents tends to co-occur with other disorders such as anxiety and disorderly behavior. With the extrapolation of the global pandemic, the number is likely to increase. As many teens turned to music to cope with the lack of interactions, we saw a rise in music streaming revenue to 13.4 billion U.S dollars and an increase from 72.6 million paid subscribers to 82.1 within 2020-2021. A study published in "Music and well-being" suggests that "Receptive music therapy, in which the patient listens to recorded or live music in order to achieve the desired outcome such as reduced anxiety, is most appropriate in circumstances where active music participation is not possible or desirable, as in palliative care." Which would further support that young consumers turned to streaming music to reduce the adverse effects of their mental illness. The study further explains, "Exposure to violent and antisocial messages contained in the music, for example, can have negative social and cognitive consequences on children and adolescents." Which is overwhelmingly the popular sound of choice for many consumers. In 2019 we saw well-received music by Juice Wrld, Kodak Black, and NBA Youngboy with messages about consuming opioids and other negative behaviors associated with it, which is why we have seen deaths by overdose top 3,300 for young adults (age 15-24) in 2019 alone. Subsequently, the composers who would establish a growing following for the youth community in 2021 would be Yeat, Kankan, and Summrs. These composers provide a similar message while innovating the methods and sound and the delivery manner, further thrusting them into household names amongst the community. With the year's closing, annual overdoses reached a record high of 100,000 as there were increases in overdoses of natural and semi-synthetic opioids—an increase of 28.5% from April 2020 to April 2021 alone.
The defense
The appeal of opioid-suggestive music is that it tends to resonate with the lifestyle of youth consumers. In many cases, the composers acknowledge their mental suffering from personal issues. On the other hand, the music glorifies the effects of the drugs consumed. The beats used for the songs also continue to push the sound of music forward with unorthodox patterns and innovative flows. Moreover, the style of music has led to wide success amongst the composers who pursue the model. This model would explain Yeat's growing success and his music's influence on a sub-group of the Tik Tok community. Simply put, the music sells quite well amongst consumers. When asked can composers be profitable without producing music referencing drugs, Bloodbath exclaims, "Artist can definitely be profitable in the music business without referencing drugs, but some artist that's all they know and it's what the people want to hear, so I see why it is so common." With the grim path laid ahead, one may wonder how opioid usage amongst the youth groups can be solved.
Moving forward
Overwhelmingly outside factors set the climate for young consumers; however, composers today control the narrative. As composers grow their sphere of influence, they must be mindful of the narrative they convey. When asked whether composers have a duty to educate their consumers on the effects of opioids, Bloodbath shares, "I wouldn't say that artists have a duty to educate the listeners, but if they did educate their listeners, I feel like fewer people would be out here doing shit just because their favorite rapper talks about it." Bloodbath further says, "I don't know how we could correct this issue. People are always going to want to hear about drugs and negative bullshit, but I do think educating each other on the effects and the things that come with these drugs we could possibly move forward." Furthermore, composers' lyrics have a lasting effect on the generations who come to digest their discography. If more composers took it upon themselves to teach their consumers about the topics they discuss, we might see a reduction in opioid use amongst the youth and an alternative way to educate as a whole. So as we come into 2022, composers must present factual evidence when discussing topics such as opioids. So that they influence their consumers to make responsible and adequate decisions for a healthy society; after all, the youth are the people that will inherit the consequences of past actions.
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