Yung Lean โฃDetails Years of Heroin Addiction, Two Years of Sobriety
TORONTO – Rapper Yung Lean, born Jonatan Leandoer Hรฅstad, โคhasโ opened up about a harrowing โperiod of drug โขaddiction, including heroin use,โข and โhis subsequent journey to sobriety. The โข29-year-oldโ artist, who โrose to prominence as a teenager and โhas collaborated with music โขindustry โคgiants โlike Kanye โWest and Frankโค Ocean, detailed his strugglesโ in a recent interviewโค with The New york times.
Lean recounted a stark realization during his addiction,โข stating, “Iโ wasโข just lying there puking [and said] ‘this is repulsive. It’s not sexy.’ If you’ve glorified it, you also โhave โto face it.”โ He also connected his past substance abuse โฃto a mental breakdown following the 2015โค carโข accident death of his manager, while Lean was a passenger in theโฃ vehicle. “I was too โyoung, and I was in a downward spiral โค- and maybe, subconsciously, I wanted to go crazy, you know? I’ve romanticized drugs sinceโฃ I wasโ young,โ and I’ve romanticized madness,” โขLean explained.
The artist has now maintained sobriety forโค two years,โ coinciding with a period of professional success. he is currently on tour and โคmaking his acting debut in โขthe film Sacrifice, alongside Vincent โcassel and Chris Evans, wich premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival โฃin September.
Lean expressedโ a sense of contentment with his sober lifestyle, noting,โ “You can be swaggy without being drunk all the time or taking pills.” Heโ also alluded to deeper โขemotional roots of his past struggles, suggesting a connection to “some kind โฃof stress or early childhood trauma,” adding, “But at some pointโ youโ have to โfigure it out.โค I am not saying that I have understood it. Right now I feel very close, but who knows, if I get too close to the sun, I might be punished.”