Juicy J has recalled a tragedy etched into his memory since his childhood that, to this day, keeps him wary of cocaine.
On Monday (September 11), the Southern MC made an appearance on the The Breakfast Club to discuss his memoir, Chronicles of the Juice Man. Released earlier this month, the book details his ascension to stardom and all the bumps he’s navigated along the way.
AD LOADING...
Despite having dabbled in plenty of drugs during his time, the Three 6 Mafia legend has always steered clear of cocaine — and has now revealed the clear-cut reason why.
“When I was like a kid, I was watching TV and I seen this basketball player named Len Bias and they said, ‘Oh, Len Bias — he died on cocaine,” he explained. “I was like, ‘I ain’t never doin’ cocaine.’ When I seen that, it stuck in my head. I just felt like if I did it, I’d die.”
Juicy J also talked about how he suddenly began noticing the drug everywhere around him soon after, and despite being offered to do it countless times in his career, he has always turned it down.
Prior to Three 6 Mafia’s Verzuz battle with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony in 2021, Juicy J joined Nas and Miss Info on an episode of The Bridge: 50 Years of Hip Hop. During the chat, he discussed the “wild” drug use that lead to the demise of his group.
“From heroin to meth to cocaine, all kinds of pills,” he said when asked about the specifics. “A lot of drugs were consumed during the times we were together. When everybody was sober and shit, everybody’s on the same page. But when cocaine’s involved, you know things change. But I’m not pointing a figure at nobody, it happened.”
AD LOADING...
Though he didn’t specifically call anybody out, Juicy did make sure to emphasize that substance abuse ran deep within the collective during their prime, but it was also the main ingredient in their downfall.
“It’s the drugs, I can’t think of nothing else,” he continued. “That was the main thing that was really fucking everything up. You know, people weren’t showing up at the studio, people weren’t handling the business, the business was crazy and everything was folding. It’s just the drugs.”
AD LOADING...
The Memphis native even recounted a time when he had to break into a groupmate’s hotel room to nudge him back into consciousness.
“I had to bust up in Lord Infamous room before and I was almost in tears,” he said. “I thought the n-gga was dead at first. So I had to go get the keys because he wouldn’t answer the phone.
“I was banging on his door. So I had to bust up in his room and had to pretty much beat him [using a pillow] to wake him up.”
