“I'ma Drank Til I D-I-E”—Big Moe

Yesterday, Houston Hip Hop icon and original Screwed Up Click member Big Moe passed away due to complications from a heart attack. When word broke that he had three heart attacks and was sitting in a coma, fans started bracing themselves for the worst. People also jumped to the conclusion that he suffered the heart attacks because of his favorite pastime, sippin' syrup. I can't blame them. A heart attack is also what took out DJ Screw out on November 16, 2000. Although Z-Ro maintains that syrup didn't kill Screw.

I don't know about ya'll but that Syrup shit scares me. It seems like that people that partake of it the most die. Sad thing is, I don't think people realize how dangerous that shit can be. Or they do know and just don't give a damn. That's probably why we have Lil Wayne starting songs with quotes like “Weed and syrup, until I die…as matter of fact, its gonna kill me bitch!”

I remember when I was in Houston a couple years ago, me and one of my homeboys was ready to try that shit. The whole time we was there it was nothing but Screw music on the radio and it was right in the middle of the 2005 Houston music takeover, so my slight interest in leanin' was amplified. I had already hit the store for my styrofoam cup, Sprite (remix) and everything. But while we was on the way to get it, the dude that was taking us to go get it started tell us all kind of shit we really didn't want to hear. Stuff like:

"Syrup hardens your arteries and intestines"

"You can't shit when you drink to much of it"

"DJ Screw died with alot of waste in his system"

As he was saying all of this I started thinking about how most of the Houston rappers who claim to partake of the syrup look. Just like their namesakes, most of these cats are indeed "Big," perhaps because of the hardened intestines. Then when you look the faces of cats like Paul Wall, Slim Thug and Mike Jones etc., they have double chins. For emphasis, look at how chonky Lil Flip and DJ Paul are looking in this "Spinners" video from '03.

In an effort to "not scare ya'll niggas," dude told us that if we drink Milk of Magnesia we'd be straight. I don't know about ya'll but I ain't too fond of chasing my drank with a shot of laxative, something about that just don't sound right. So, of course, we took our ass back to the gas station, got some beer and Black N' Milds and called it a night.

Don't me wrong, I'm not shitting on Houston's culture. Music made under the influence of syrup, or drugs period, is nine times out of ten, our favorite shit to listen to. Classic even. (No, I take that back, most of the shit rappers make after poppin' beans is either ghey or wack.)

But I have to wonder if Moe's death will make cats chill out on the drank, or will it simply make more people want to sip and sip and sip in his honor.

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