They popped a Molly, and now I’m sweating.
Music and drugs go hand in hand. It’s just that simple.
In the ’70s, it was all about sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. Today, it’s all about sex, drugs and electronic dance music. Yes, the EDM revolution is upon us, and it has brought with it a plethora of drugs.
Gaining initial popularity at raves in the 1990s, ecstasy has found a whole new following thanks to Molly, the powder form of the drug. EDM festivals and popular music have helped Molly take over pop culture today.
While ecstasy is often laced with ingredients, such as caffeine or methamphetamine, Molly is thought to be pure MDMA — the chemical used in ecstasy, which causes euphoria, a sense of intimacy and diminished anxiety.
Mainstream artists are glorifying the use of Molly, evoking curiosity in their listeners by glamorizing its effects. It’s like a Molly bandwagon, and artists are jumping on as if they were paid drug reps.
Former Buku Festival performer Trinidad James’ song “All Gold Everything” sparked the Molly craze with the line, “popped a Molly, I’m sweating.”
“All the people are like, ‘I don’t know what it is, but every time I hear the song, I just want to do it,’” James told MTV News.
In the past few months alone, more than 10 hip-hop artists released songs dedicated to Molly. It is so out of control that rapper Problem just released a song titled “My Last Molly Song Ever, I Promise.”
Molly was recently linked to two deaths and four hospitalizations at the Electric Zoo festival in New York City over Labor Day weekend, forcing the cancelation of the third day of the festival. This comes just four days after a teenager died from drug-related causes at a Zedd concert in Boston.
Winter Circle Productions recently announced the New Orleans Buku Music and Art Project will be held March 21-22 of next year. But unless this drug culture changes, I’m fearful that more lives could be lost due to drug misuse at next year’s festival.
At this year’s Buku Fest, I watched countless sick, rolling teenagers pass out on the germ-infested ground in the Float Den, making me thankful to be dancing sans Molly.
That’s not to say the people rolling on Molly didn’t entertain me during the festival. In the Ballroom, I watched a man engage in an intense sword fight with a wall.
During Zedd’s DJ set, a young couple, obviously on Molly, played an intense game of tonsil hockey in my direct line of vision. I had to watch in amazement as they tried, but failed, to keep their hands off of each other.
And let us not forget the streaker during Passion Pit’s performance. Seeing someone that ecstatic put into perspective for me why so many people are taking a liking to this drug.
But what everyone has to realize is Molly’s mood-boosting properties are only temporary, and MDMA can lead to a host of negative effects including anxiety, depression and paranoia, as well as death due to dehydration, hypothermia and seizures.
The scariest thing about Molly is that you have no way of knowing what you are ingesting, unless you own a laboratory. Molly could be cut with anonymous chemicals and other drugs, like meth and heroin.
EcstasyData, an independent pill-testing program that collects and reviews Molly tablets, studied tablets in Washington D.C. last year and found ingredients ranging from caffeine to methylone, a substance found in bath salts.
How many more tragic deaths is it going to take before artists realize their impressionable fans now see Molly as a harmless party accessory?
But there may be hope on the horizon. A handful of rappers have recently spoken out, including former Buku performer Kendrick Lamar. Lamar ends his “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” music video with a coffin that reads “Death to Molly” being lowered into the ground.
The chilling reality is that it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve taken Molly; it only takes one bad reaction to kill you. So ask yourself this: Is the risk really worth the roughly four-hour reward and subsequent comedown?
Katie Daigrepont is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Metairie, La.