References to Marijuana & Alcohol in Popular Music, Renee M. Johnson, PhD, MPH Assistant Professor, Department of Mental Health

Acknowledgements & Funding Michael B. Siegel, MD, MPH; Professor, Dept. of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health BUSPH Students: Amanda J. Ayers; Courtney Kaczmarsky; Adina Koch; Mark Lohsen; Taylor D. Parnham; Kathryn Power Funding: K01DA (RM Johnson)

Past 30-Day Use of Alcohol & Marijuana, 9 th -12 th Graders, US Source: National YRBS,

Media & Adolescent Substance Use  Music, television, Internet – “Super Peers”  Listen to music ~2.5 hours/day  Media references to substance use  Inform youths’ attitudes and expectancies  Appeal to emotion, affect, identity, self-image  Normalizes use in specific contexts  Smoking in bed after sex  Binge drinking at a party in college  “Media dependent”

Background  720 Billboard songs, (Siegel et al., 2013; PMID: )  Drinking portrayed as fun and free of consequences; references were uniformly positive  23% of songs had an alcohol reference  Urban songs 2.5 times more likely to contain an alcohol reference compared to Pop, Country, & Rock  279 Billboard songs, 2005 (Primack, et al., 2008; PMID: )  24% of songs had an alcohol reference, 14% had a reference to marijuana  Substances associated with partying and fun  Rap, Hip-Hop, and R&B had the largest number of references to alcohol and marijuana

Research Aims  Quantify prevalence of references to marijuana and alcohol in popular Urban songs,  Urban: Hip-Hop/R&B, Rap Charts  Identify the words used to reference marijuana  Qualitatively assess references to marijuana  Contributions: more recent, 5 years of data, focus on marijuana

Methods  Assembled list of songs on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B and Rap charts,  Obtained lyrics from and  Accuracy of lyrics  Bleeps/ clean edits  Created a data abstraction protocol, all songs screened for references  Songs with references reviewed for context, thematic analysis

References to Marijuana in Songs Ranked by Billboard ( ), by Genre (n=719) 84% (57/64) of references to marijuana were in Urban songs

References to Marijuana and Alcohol in Songs on Billboard’s Hip-Hop/R&B and Rap Charts, Any Marijuana27.9%(126) Any Alcohol38.4%(173) Marijuana Only11.1%(50) Alcohol Only21.5%(97) Marijuana & Alcohol16.9%(76)

References to Substances in Songs on Billboard’s Hip- Hop/R&B and Rap Charts, , by Year

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Thematic Analysis Boasting about Wealth “I’m burning purple flowers/ It’s burning my chest/ I bury the most cash and burning the rest/ Walking on the cloud, suspended in thin air/ Do ones beneath me recognize the red bottoms I wear?” {I’m On One, by Drake feat. Rick Ross} Partying & Good Times “In the club high on purp with some shades on/Tatted up, mini skirt with my J's on” {23, by Mike Will Made It, feat. Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa & Juicy J} “This club so packed, these hoes so drunk/I got a bottle, got a model, got a molly, got a blunt” {Ball, by T.I. feat. Lil Wayne}

Thematic Analysis Negative Physical Effects “Smoking, choking, always rollin' something” {Till I Die, by Chris Brown, feat. Big Sean & Wiz Khalifa} “Red eyes, no Visine, I'm locked out on the bean” {Same Damn Time, by Future} Minimal references to legal, health, or social consequences of substance use

Discussion  Conclusions  References to marijuana (28%), alcohol (38%), or both (17%) were common  Listeners exposed to portrayals of marijuana as part of a fun and rich lifestyle, something to strive towards  Future Research: How do we know what is too much? And for whom? How does it impact Black youth?  Practice Implications: Increase opportunities for youth to critically reflect on messages they receive and clarify personal values

Adolescent Use and Attitudes MTF study 2012

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