No drugs. No alcohol.

i don't smoke nearly as often as i used to so can't touch it if i'm planning on doing anything with my evening! it's all about coffee and cigarettes for me

ya i drink mad green tea and use my e-cigarette constantly while making beats (quit the real ones.) the only drug i do for an extra boost is jack3d style stuff (i use driven sports craze.)

next time i do acid i'll probably sit down and try to make a beat. i might start getting baked again when i have a decent job.

got no problem with people using drugs for music or
being stoned, its just kind of a bummer when you
can't communicate with them because they are too
retardedly stoned. as for alchohol, good luck trying to
get anything done past a few beers, tryed recording some
guitar riffs while drinking, and got no where. booze is the
trickyest drug, i gotta stay away from it.

A mans most valuable tool is a sharp mind. When people say that they get high before they make beats cus "it opens their mind to help them be creative" that just tells you what kind of mind they are working with from the start. They are fooling themselves. Im all for freedom to do whatever you want but dont fool yourself by following trends. For some reason hip hop and weed have been aligned. I used to think the same way. I thought that I had to be stoned out of my skull to make the best beats I could. Then I had to quit because of my job and after a few months and all of the dullness from nonstop use wore off I found myself much sharper and much more creative. I think it should be legal and it has medical values but just like anything too much of it has its negative effects. On top of all that I get super annoyed by people (rappers,producers) bragging how much weed yhey smoke like they just did something amazing or some shit. C'mon man, anyone can smoke weed you aint impressing anyone. Almost like they are saying without weed they wouldnt be able to make a beat or write a 16.

Considering the closest ties that are accepted between hip hop and 'substance abuse' is weed, I think they're doing it right. Rock has had a long history of much harder drug association with all of the dead stars (and some that should've died like Keith Richards) as posterboys for heavy drugs. Weed is hardly something to be pissed off about when concerning it's ties to hip hop when you look at what it could be.

Completely sober over here (after years of alcoholism) and my music sounds VERY stoned/slurry/trippy/non coherent

I'm hardly pissed off about that.

Wow, great topic.

I found when I would drink or get high I FELT like the music was great when it was not necessarily so. I remember playing electric bass to the first Weather Report album from '72 and I was high, it was great but I could not remember anything I did or recapture the feel the next day. I have also had more than a couple of live shows where I was a bit drunk and thought show was the greatest only to hear the recording and realize I was pretty sub-par. I had a band mate however who would ONLY create when really stoned and IMO was a double edged sword but it worked for him at the time so to each his own.

I have been sober for years and it is by FAR the best place for me to be creative from. No comparison. The clarity, ability, focus, recall, inspiration, and satisfaction levels when consistently sober are light years above when in an altered state.

That being said, my experiences with LSD, etc. many years ago contain some of the most frightening and inspiring moments in my life. I never recommend it to anyone- it is way too powerful and risky IMO, but I also never say it should be outlawed or that nobody should ever try it.

I think that I could however recommend to everyone that staying sober for a few months and working on your art, life, health, mental health etc. is something that is worth trying if you never have before. I personally started
early and the year I was 17 and sober was the most creative and growth filled year of my youth bar none. For some folks the usage is a coping mechanism for stress or unhappiness and buried emotions. It can be more challenging to deal with what comes up once you stop using than just stopping using in the first place.

/end monologue!



Note: I wrote this not having read through the entire thread.
Noote: Read it all- love hearing everyone's opinions just as much as hearing everyone's beats. Good varied community here with predominantly open and accepting minds- I like it.
PS- I am not clicking on any of those crazy links to gross/weird drugs- I learned my lesson long ago about the "boundless" interwebz!

i cant smoke and make beats because it just zones me out. im slack at everything and make crap decisions. get me drunk however and im a machine. im not better than when im sober but i can crack out a quality track very quickly. i think its because i just make decisions and go with it. seriously though i can be hammered and still make something pretty good... it took a lot of practice though