Bow Wow Recalls Collapsing, Being Hospitalized Due to His Addiction to Lean: 'I Had to Get Right'

Bow Wow is reflecting on the moment he ended up in the hospital due to his drug addiction.

The 36-year-old rapper recently appeared on The Art of Dialogue podcast and opened up about going through withdrawal after heavily using lean, also known as sizzurp — a combination of promethazine and codeine-based cough syrup with soft drinks — around the time he was collaborating with Omarion in 2007 for their Face Off album.

"I was on lean. I was sipping so much syrup,” he said on the show. “I was drinking that s--- like crazy. If you go back and watch The Road to Platinum series on BET, you'll see so many white styrofoam cups. I was losing my f---ing mind. That lean s--- had me f---ed up. I was just always irritated."

Bow Wow — born Shad Gregory Moss — explained that his addiction got so out of control that he was drinking “all day long.”

“No matter where we were at, we’re sipping,” he said. Although he said he doesn’t have an “addictive personality,” the "Shortie Like Mine" rapper’s dependency on the substance ultimately put him in the hospital. 

"We were on our tour, I was co-headlining with Chris Brown and the opening night was in Cincinnati. And when I got off stage, I collapsed," Bow Wow recalled. "I went straight to Cincinnati University Hospital. My stomach was so f---ed up that I ended up going back home to Atlanta after the first show."

"I'm sitting in the hospital not knowing what the f--- going on, and when I get back home and the s--- gets worse. I'm throwing up, I'm shivering in the bed, I'm sweating, I'm going through it,” he continued. “I didn't know I was having withdrawals. That's how much lean I was consuming."

Bow Wow said his late publicist saved his image at the time, releasing a statement in hopes of keeping his lean addiction under wraps as he recovered and got his health back on track.

"I had to get right, man. God rest her soul, I had the best publicist ever, Pattie Webster," he said. "She put out a press release [that said I dropped out of the tour] for dehydration. Wasn't no dehydration; I was f---ed up off lean... That's just good PR. We didn't want the world to know that 18, 19-year-old Bow was heavy on the drank."

During the podcast, the rapper admitted that the health scare was a turning point for him.

“My stomach was so f---ed up. It felt like someone just had a knife,” he said, motioning as if he was getting stabbed. “I never felt this type of pain ever in my life.”

“My body needed it but my mind, I don’t have an addictive personality. I was consuming a lot but I didn’t know that my body needed it,” he added. “That was the worst s--- I ever went through in my life. No joke.”

Bow Wow then stressed that he no longer does hard drugs, noting that he sticks to “tequila and weed.”

“I know my boundaries,” he said.

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Bow Wow first detailed his past drug addiction in 2018 following the death of Mac Miller, who died from an accidental overdose caused by a mix of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol. In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, the rapper advised his younger followers to stay away from drugs.

“To the youth- Stop with these dumb ass drugs,” he said at the time, revealing his substance abuse. He said his family and fans began to “turn on him” as a result of using the drug, claiming “everything changed” about him.

​​“Kick that s---! Be a good son or daughter. Be the best you,” he wrote. “Ima start being more vocal. We gotta save the youth from going out early. Parents watch your kids. Explain to them. We want yall to live man. I almost died f---ing with syrup.”

Added the former child actor: “DRUG FREE IS THE WAY TO BE! smarten up tighten up out here. We cant lose no more of you. Not one! I love all yall. The young artist all the kids around the world.. dont follow a trend. Break the cycle.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.