As some of you may or may not know, Macklemore recently released a video entitled Drug Dealer. It can literally be summed up into one word: wow.
It's no secret, Macklemore (born Ben Haggerty) has struggled with alcohol and drug abuse, I.E a synthetic heroin-in-a-pill called Oxycontin. His video shows the pain of withdrawal, sweating on a bed trying not to move a muscle while simultaneously every muscle in your body wants to twitch. Trying to make it to the bathroom while not vomiting on yourself; the pain of looking into your mirror to see what you became (but of course only being able to do that while you're high and well.)
The fact of the matter is more and more teenagers (let alone adults) get hooked on pills everyday. Various nicknames of pills such as Xani, Roxy, even Addy's filled my high school walls. When you're a teenager, you don't listen to horror stories of people losing their life, no. Instead you have no care in the world as you buy your first pill and don't realize there's a problem until you're stealing out of your mothers purse. We can try to stop this as much as we want, but the sad fact is people do not listen. Horror stories do not work. That's why I thank Macklemore.
It's no doubt people listen to lyrics more than anything in the world. Something they can vibe to AND relate to? Perfect. Macklemore took advantage of his popular fan base and the crisis of drug addiction and threw them together, creating almost a help cry and anti-Big Pharma rally song all in one.
And these devil's they keep on talkin' to me
They screamin' "open the bottle," I wanna be at peace
My hand is gripping that throttle, I'm running out of speed
Tryin' close my eyes but I keep sweatin' through these sheets, through these sheets
Four horseman, they won't let me forget
I wanna forge a prescription, cause doctor I need some more of it
When Morphine and heroine is more viewer budget
I said I'd never use a needle, but sure, fuck it
Going through addiction and living is one thing, but going through addiction and trying to help hundreds of people is another, so for that I again thank you, Macklemore. It takes a lot of courage to do what you're doing, so behalf on everyone who hasn't got the chance to say it I say it again: Thank you.
More and more everyday I see people belittling drug addicts. Either by calling them all types of slurs or just the ever infamous "junkie," to saying addiction is not a disease or to say it was our choice to become addicts; the stigma against addiction is staggering. It honestly takes my breath away every single time I see a paragraph on Facebook, name calling and all. The bottom line of it is that no one chooses this life, no one wakes up and decides to be a drug addict. No one wakes up and decides to ruin their life.
Macklemore could have easily written something like this off, dubbing it career suicide in his head. But he didn't. He instead decided to go against the grain and showcase what this hellish life is like. Not many people will do that, they'll instead let their peers get to them and that's why I not only thank Macklemore, but respect him as well.
Thank you for writing on a subject not many would. Thank you for allowing people to delve into a life they judge and may not now judge. Thank you for shaking the globe with a chilling video such as this. It won't go to waste, and it will not be another one hit wonder. I truly hope more artists take an idea such as this from you and continue with this topic, for it could save more lives than anyone could ever hope.
So God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference
And the wisdom to know the dfference
