Bow Wow was hospitalized while struggling with meager addiction

Bow Wow reflected on how his 2007 hospitalization helped him battle his addiction to lean.

'I drank so much syrup. I drank that like crazy,” the 36-year-old rapper said during an interview on Monday, February 12 with The art of dialogue. “If you go back and watch the documentary series The Road to Platinum on BET, you see so many white Styrofoam cups and Hawaiian punch bottles. I was losing my damn mind. That skinny attitude left me confused. I was just always irritated.”

Bow Wow, whose real name is Shad Gregory Moss, recalled using lean constantly while working with Omarion on their album Face Off. Lean, also known as sizzurp, is a combination of promethazine and codeine-based cough syrup that is typically mixed with soft drinks.

The musician revealed that he didn't realize he had become dependent on the drug-infused drink as he doesn't have an 'addictive' personality. When Bow Wow performed his first show on a joint tour with Chris Brownhe ended up in hospital.

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“Opening night was in Cincinnati. And when I left the stage, I collapsed. I went straight to Cincinnati University Hospital,” Bow Wow recalled, noting he was 18 or 19 years old. “My stomach was so upset that I ended up going back home to Atlanta after the first show.”

Bow Wow had to withdraw from the tour to focus on his recovery. When he got home, the rapper confessed that he started feeling worse because he was “vomiting,” “shivering” and “sweating.” He was so concerned about his symptoms that he went to the hospital again in mid-summer.

“I drive to the hospital wearing two hoodies and sweating. [Do] Do you know how hot it gets in Atlanta? Hot as a mother, hot as shit and I'm fucking freezing,” he said. “I didn't know I had recordings. That's how much lean I consumed.”

Bow Wow compared the pain in his stomach to the equivalent of being stabbed. After learning he was going through withdrawals, Bow Wow decided to get clean with the help of his late publicist, Pattie Webster. Webster, who died in September 2013 at the age of 49, released a statement saying Bow Wow was suffering from dehydration.

Looking back now, Bow Wow said coming off the substance was “the worst period” he had ever experienced. The experience made him realize that he should stay away from hard drugs and encouraged others to do the same.

“Kick that s–t! Be a good son or daughter. Be the best you,” he wrote via X in 2018 after being affected by the death of rapper Mac Miller. “I'm going to be louder. We must prevent young people from going out early. Parents watch your children. Explain it to them. We want you all alive, man. I almost died with syrup.”