The astronomical death-toll related to the opioid crisis that has swept over the United States in recent years has also infiltrated Canada, with more than 10,300 opioid-related deaths from January 2016 to September 2018 alone. While public acknowledgement of the extent of the crisis is growing, awareness as to the underlying causes and potential solutions to the problem seems to be in short supply.
In response to the rising opioid-related death-toll, Toronto-born hip hop emcee/rapper MC FÜBB (pronounced “emcee foob”), who also happens to be a Registered Psychotherapist, has released a song addressing the epidemic entitled “Opioid Crisis.” Produced by Juno-nominated beat-maker Fresh Kils, “Opioid Crisis” is a gritty, hard-hitting, heartstring-pulling song that confronts listeners with the horrific realities of the unfolding situation that its title entails. With eloquent lyricism and unflinching clarity, the song explores themes of underlying trauma and pain that often co-occur with addiction; systemic causes of trauma and substance use as a means to cope; the glorification of substance use in rap music; and the all-to-brief and unreflective public reaction to deaths of celebrities by overdose. The aim of “Opioid Crisis” is to raise public awareness and encourage critical self-reflection for listeners, policy-makers, and for society as a whole.
“Opioid Crisis” is the first single to be released from MC FÜBB’s forthcoming EP, Wounded Healer (a project for which the artist received a recording grant from the Ontario Arts Council), which is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2019.
Don't ask why the addiction - ask why the pain
Ask anyone addicted and they'll tell you the same
Ask em what it feels like without that drug in they're veins
What would you do if you felt raw every minute of every day?
Living in the realm of hungry ghosts - word to Gabor Maté
Floating through existence with no aim
Overcome with shame
Alienated, segregated from the world, peering through a window pane
Feeling left out in the rain
This is not a hypothetical
Living a life that's antithetical
To making progressions, lost lessons
Count the cost of our obsessions
extreme directions
Biologically distressing
self-medicating depression
no preacher in the world can bear the weight of these confessions
the life of the addicted, soul crushed in those afflicted
and society doesn't seem to care
sweep ‘em under the stairs
‘till it's your own child living in despair
now painfully aware – awakened, can never sleep again
another life taken, there – sowing what we reap again
numbing out the trauma that rises from beneath again
‘till someone famous overdoses – it’s not a secret then
and people cry for a minute but then they move on
as long as they don’t live it and can zone out on the futon
there’s bars in the phone and the bars are still open
you can get your drink on and get high on what you’re smokin’
as rappers it’s a fact that most the bars that are spoken
glorify the same shit that leave your idols comatosin’
whether pills or syrup – taking someone else’s meds
substances that make ‘em lean too far over the edge
When the problem’s there, we ignore it
And when the pain’s too much, we reach for it
how many bodies gotta be destroyed, lifeless
till we address the causes of this opioid crisis
the same system that’ll lock you up for a gram
lets you get raped in prison and does not give a damn
now little Timmy mighta been experimenting before
but best believe after that he’s mainlining the raw
now out of parole, need something to take the edge off
robs a liquor store and he blasts the owner’s head off
now it’s 25 to life and got no reason to live
so he exists off the relief that the dealer-man gives
see addiction don’t exist in a vacuum
social displacement equals profit for the mans in the back room
when people suffer silently without a reply
that’s when demand happily meets supply
and they’re ready to buy
whatever’s strongest
what numbs pain the longest
heroin not enough, seek help from the medical
slow-release fentanyl
wrapped in the tentacles
a soul-stealing sickness dealing damage that’s irreparable
whether methadone or oxycodone
your life is on loan
needing the next dose to keep you afloat
medicating the withdrawal but neglecting the soul
as long as pain is contained and controlled
When the problem’s there, we ignore it
And when the pain’s too much, we reach for it
how many bodies gotta be destroyed, lifeless
till we address the causes of this opioid crisis
a matter of experience: amassing the cost
greatest lesson learned: how to hold sadness and loss
for us to get the message, when they die, how many?
Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Mac Miller, Tom Petty
Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Pimp C,
Basquiat, Jim Morrison, Prince, ODB
Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Belushi, Heath Ledger
Chris Farley – in the red, all the names on the ledger
tryna numb out the pain, miles away from pleasure
the toll on our souls much more than we can measure
endless pursuit of more leaves our souls untethered
the high never enough, always searching for better
and you can say it’s just a problem for some
but it’s indicative of the way we live – uncomfortably numb
so possessed by possessions, living deaf, blind, and dumb
ignorant to what we’ve become
When the problem’s there, we ignore it
And when the pain’s too much, we reach for it
how many bodies gotta be destroyed, lifeless
till we address the causes of this opioid crisis
credits
released April 25, 2019
Written and performed by MC FÜBB.
Produced by Fresh Kils.
Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Relic at The Reservoir Studio.
Cover art by Will Shintani.
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