Pubdate: Sun, 27 Aug 2000
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2000, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Contact:  414-224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Forum: http://www.jsonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimate.cgi
Author: Nick Carter of the Journal Sentinel staff

MDMA BOOGIED FROM '60S ROCK TO RAVES

And Now, Some Say, The Drug Called Ecstasy Is Making Its Way Into Rap

For the music subculture, it's old candy with a new name.

Back in the '60s, the drug known as Ecstasy went by the term MDA, a 
shortened acronym for its pharmaceutical tag, MDMA.

Then, it was culturally connected to the rock culture, mainly the 
psychedelic sector of the genre.

Today, MDMA is connected to the rave scene, a music subculture on its way 
to the mainstream, and tied to turntable-driven forms of dance music such 
as techno and house.

A Drug Enforcement Administration report a few years back warned that 
Ecstasy use has increased by more than 500% since the '60s and that the 
drug increasingly was "in use at nightclubs and raves by young adults and 
adolescents."

Many groups and disc jockeys have titled songs with puns about or direct 
references to the drug. More blatant instances include "I Will Give You 
Ecstasy," by Laconic, and "Expanding Ecstasy," by Stereo Dreams.

A song by Warrior Soul offers these lyrics: "I'm riding high/ I'm takin' 
off/ MDMA/ Tripping on Ecstasy . . . drop two more hits/ I'm on a power 
drive. . . ."

An article in the July issue of the rap and hip-hop magazine The Source 
focuses on Ecstasy's increasing presence in the rap scene. Until recently, 
the article contends, the drug was mainly a phenomenon among suburban white 
kids who frequented dance clubs and gathered at raves.

"This year, with everyone from (Dr.) Dre and Eminem to Jay-Z and Bones, 
Thugs-N'-Harmony reppin' ecstasy and hallucinogens on their records, you 
gotta wonder: Are hip-hop heads searching for new highs with substances 
once deemed white-boy poison?" ponders writer David Ho.

Eminem has said he was "under the influence of E" while writing a few 
tracks on his hit 1999 album, "The Slim Shady LP."
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