MDMA BOOGIED FROM '60S ROCK TO RAVES

And Now, Some Say, The Drug Called Ecstasy Is Making Its Way Into Rap

For the music subculture, it's old candy with a new name.

Back in the '60s, the drug known as Ecstasy went by the term MDA, a
shortened acronym for its pharmaceutical tag, MDMA.

Then, it was culturally connected to the rock culture, mainly the
psychedelic sector of the genre.

Today, MDMA is connected to the rave scene, a music subculture on its way
to the mainstream, and tied to turntable-driven forms of dance music such
as techno and house.

A Drug Enforcement Administration report a few years back warned that
Ecstasy use has increased by more than 500% since the '60s and that the
drug increasingly was "in use at nightclubs and raves by young adults and
adolescents."

Many groups and disc jockeys have titled songs with puns about or direct
references to the drug. More blatant instances include "I Will Give You
Ecstasy," by Laconic, and "Expanding Ecstasy," by Stereo Dreams.

A song by Warrior Soul offers these lyrics: "I'm riding high/ I'm takin'
off/ MDMA/ Tripping on Ecstasy . . . drop two more hits/ I'm on a power
drive. . . ."

An article in the July issue of the rap and hip-hop magazine The Source
focuses on Ecstasy's increasing presence in the rap scene. Until recently,
the article contends, the drug was mainly a phenomenon among suburban white
kids who frequented dance clubs and gathered at raves.

"This year, with everyone from (Dr.) Dre and Eminem to Jay-Z and Bones,
Thugs-N'-Harmony reppin' ecstasy and hallucinogens on their records, you
gotta wonder: Are hip-hop heads searching for new highs with substances
once deemed white-boy poison?" ponders writer David Ho.

Eminem has said he was "under the influence of E" while writing a few
tracks on his hit 1999 album, "The Slim Shady LP."