Warning: article contains graphic and drug content. 

It’s tough to stand out in the rap game these days. A viral video is always helpful, but Bishop Nehru has taken it to the extreme, trying some heroin in the clip for his new single.

Nehru rose to prominence several years ago when MF Doom cottoned on to the rapper’s talent. Doom and Nehru released the collaborative album NehruvianDoom in 2014, which featured in many publication’s end-of-year lists.

Eight years later and Nehru is preparing for the release of his new project by indulging in some heroin. The rapper posted the video for new single ‘Heroin Addiction’ on Tuesday. “I tried Heroin in the new video,” he teased on social media.

To Nehru’s credit, he does at least include a disclaimer with the video: “THIS VIDEO WAS MADE FOR ART PURPOSES SPECIFICALLY! WE AT THE NEHRUVIAN FAMILY DO NOT CONDONE OR PROMOTE THE USE OF HARD DRUGS, BUT WE SUPPORT & SPEAK FOR THOSE EFFECTED WHO MAY NOT HAVE A VOICE FOR THEMSELVES. IF YOU EVER NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO HIT ME IN THE DISCORD. THANK YOU.”

Watching the actual video, it’s unclear if Nehru actually did try the drug, despite him seemingly both injecting and smoking it. He sleeps. He vomits a lot. He shakes a little.

You almost forget there’s a song being performed. “We like the highs, trying to find an escape / There’s plenty lost in the race, there’s a dragon to chase / It’ll all be straight, come get close to the bait / In the very worst cases, we’ll meet at the gates,” Nehru darkly raps.

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Please DO NOT try this at home,” a caption displayed at the end of the video says, as if Nehru was genuinely worried people would imitate this.

The reaction on social media to ‘Heroin Addiction’ was overwhelmingly negative. Someone posted a knowing lyric from Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Rich Spirit’: “Clout chasing a hell of a disease, brother.” “Bro knows what he’s doing. Crazy this is the kind of content that gets retweets with think pieces,” wrote someone else.

For more on this topic, follow the Hip Hop Observer.

https://twitter.com/enzoriverssss/status/1527148042863919105?s=21

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