While drug-use in rap has been a hot topic recently, it's definitely not a new topic. The new school has been getting the brunt of the shade for its promotion of the hard stuff but, let's be real, rappers rhyming about self-medicating has been going on for years. Maybe not to the level it is now, but it has been somewhat prevalent in the past.

Gucci Mane, who has been sober for years, after cleaning himself up during his last prison bid, recently spoke with The New York Times about his former vices and the older artists he respects who rapped about their drug use in decades past. Speaking specifically about his track, "Rich Ass Junkie," where he admits to his trifling past with drugs, Wop mentions the rappers who he came up on who did the same thing.

“B.G. been talking about doing drugs. Juvenile. Soulja Slim. Geto Boys," he says. "It’s been going on, self-medication, and that’s the people I admired coming up, because they were talking about stuff you knew was authentic.”

The "Solitaire" rapper has changed his ways and been able to keep his nose clean, with most of the heavy lifting done while he was still locked up. "It changed me, 'cuz it just gave me a time to sit back, evaluate my life and look at all the mistakes, all the things I know that I did wrong and I need to correct," he said in an interview on ESPN. "And to ensure that I don't come back into this prison I'm just gonna be totally sober... I want to jump every hurdle that's in front of me, and it takes me having a clear mind. I know my weakness, and being sober is just like a big strength to me."

These days, Gucci is focusing on the bag. He recently inquired about signing Atlanta rapper Gunna to a new deal.

 

See 60 Hip-Hop Albums Turning 20 in 2018

More From XXL