Ice Cube Blasts Prescription Drug Abuse With “On Them Pills”

Ice Cube’s new record Everythang’s Corrupt primarily has the political landscape in its scope, but the veteran MC also warns about the dangers of casual drug use on “On Them Pills.” The song is produced by Sparkz Tha Trakman.

Several different drugs are addressed by Cube, beginning with MDMA (often called “Molly”) on the first verse. He raps:

Uh, you’s a drugstore cowboy
Everything you put in your mouth look like a Altoid
Crazy ass niggas love a bitch named Molly (Bitch named Molly)
Passed out on the floor, go and get a dolly

On the song’s third verse, Cube specifically criticizes a number of prescription drugs, including popular painkillers and anxiety medication, while referencing Heath Ledger’s fatal 2008 overdose:

He thizz and got them Oxycontin (Oxycontin)
Got them front teeth all rotten (All rotten)
Viagra mixed with ecstasy is the reason for your latest pregnancy (Pregnancy)
You the Joker off that Heath Ledger (Heath Ledger)
I'ma smoker her (Why?) ‘cause weed’s better
You niggas start to panic when you off that Xanax
Drownin’ in the gutter, you think it’s the Atlantic

Drug use is a pervasive problem in hip-hop, with overdoses recently claiming the lives of Mac Miller and Lil Peep. Rappers from Juicy J to Lil Mosey have recently spoke out publicly against Xanax specifically. Ice Cube has regularly tackled the topic in his storied career, dating all the way back to N.W.A.’s “Dopeman.”

Cube also covers similar subject matter on Everythang’s Corrupt’s “Bad Dope,” rapping from the perspective of a troubled addict. He says:

Silly rabbit, snatch and grab it
I got a fuckin' habit
Steal from momma, pills from momma
If I die, send the bill to momma

In a 2017 interview with Larry King Ice Cube said he was against harsher drug sentencing.“You need to help people who have problems,” he said. “I think you need to really try to deal with the drug problem at the root.”

Ice Cube recently appeared on Genius' series Verified to break down his song “Nobody Wants To Die.”

Read the full lyrics to “On Them Pills” and the rest of Ice Cube’s discography on Genius now.