An intimate documentary about Lil Wayne debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and many who have seen it are describing a very raw film about an extremely hardworking genius fighting a dire addiction to prescription cough syrup.
Lil Wayne, née Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., doesn’t hide his drug use by any means. Obvious lyrical references aside, he’s also spoken out to MTV News about his addiction to the concoction that includes codeine and promethazine. “Everybody wants me to stop. It ain’t that easy,” he says in this YouTube clip. “Sh*t feels like death in your stomach when you stop doing it.”
In his film “The Carter,” however, the dangerous proportions of Lil Wayne’s drug addiction “gets thrown into stark relief,” LA Times reports. Even his best friend/manager Cortez Bryant is troubled by the addiction, saying, “I don’t think he wants to be dead. But it got to that point. It escalated.”
Notable deaths attributed to the cough syrup concoction known as “purple drank” or various other names, include DJ Screw, Pimp C, and possibly Big Moe. Here’s hoping this documentary doesn’t simply exploit Lil Wayne’s drug use, but rather helps us save one of the greatest musicians of our time.