Hip-hop artist Juicy J is getting some backlash over recent anti-vaccine comments that warn fans against taking the covid-19 vaccine.
The Three 6 Mafia OG posted a since-deleted Twitter post saying, “If I was you, I wouldn’t get vaccinated I would wear a mask & take vitamins.”
Many are questioning Juicy J’s authority, not just because of his lack of professional medical expertise but because he is a self-professed lean user.
Journalist Philip Lewis, a senior front page editor at the HuffPost, tweeted: “I can’t take health advice from someone who’s been drinking lean since I was 9 years old”
Lean is a street drug containing a mix of codeine cough syrup, soda, and hard candy that is “highly addictive and potentially damaging to the body,” according to the Addiction Center.
Also known as purple drank, sizzurp, and dirty Sprite, Lean was initially a popular drink among blues musicians in the 1960s who mixed Robitussin cough syrup with beer. But in the 1980s, hip-hop artists started using codeine, soda, and a piece of hard candy (usually Jolly Ranchers).
“Lean is so named because of the effect it has on people while drinking–they tend to slouch or lean to one side the more they consume,” according to the Addiction Center.
Memphis hip-hop pioneer Juicy J and his Three 6 Mafia co-founders released the single “Sippin’ On Some Syrup” in 2000 as part of the album “When The Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1.”
On Twitter, many agreed with Lewis.
“He’s gonna get people killed with this nonsense,” one poster wrote.
Another wrote, “Sizzurp < FDA-Approved vaccines?!?! Whhhaaaaaaaat????”
In 2018, Juicy J cashed in on a 2015 investment he had in water company Core Hydration when it was acquired by corporate giant Keurig Dr. Pepper for $525 million.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been fighting against covid-19 myths that are spreading on social media. However, it is true that vaccinated people can still contract covid-19, according to immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public voice of authority on the pandemic, Revolt reported.
The U.S. government has been working to get more Black people, who are disproportionately affected by the virus, vaccinated.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.
As of March 15, the CDC reported that race is known for slightly more than half (53 percent) of people who have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Among those vaccinated, 8 percent are Black while nearly two-thirds (66 percent) are white, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported.
