Bow Wow Reveals His Addiction to Lean Caused Him to 'Collapse' After His First Show on 2007 Joint Tour With Chris Brown

Bow Wow got candid about his addiction to lean — something he endured when he was just a teenager.

“I was sipping so much syrup. I was drinking that s--- like crazy,” the rapper, 36, told The Art of the Dialogue on Monday, February 12. “If you go back and watch The Road to Platinum documentary series on BET, you’ll see so many white styrofoam cups and Hawaiian punch bottles. I was losing my f------ mind. That lean s--- had me f----- up. I was just always irritated.”

The musician, whose real name is Shad Gregory Moss, originally got his big break at only 13 years old after being discovered by Snoop Dogg. The star revealed he was constantly drinking lean during the making of his 2007 collaboration album with Omarion, Face Off.

Lean is a combination of promethazine and codeine-based cough syrup that is typically mixed with soft drinks, and its effects often make users feel relaxed, drowsy and almost detached from the body.

The star admitted he didn’t believe he had an issue with the substance because he doesn’t have an “addictive” personality, however, his 2007 hospitalization caused him to realize the gravity of his dependency.

“Opening night was in Cincinnati. And when I got off stage, I collapsed. I went straight to Cincinnati University Hospital,” Bow Wow said of his joint concert tour with Chris Brown, noting he was about 18 or 19 years old at the time. “My stomach was so f----- up that I ended up going back home to Atlanta after the first show.”

Bow Wow then dropped the tour to recover from the incident. He recounted “throwing up,” “shivering,” “sweating” and being bundled up in the middle of the summer.

“I pull up to the hospital with two hoodies on and sweats. [Do] you know how hot it gets in Atlanta? Hot as a mother f-----, hot as s--- and I’m f------ freezing,” he shared. “I didn’t know I was having withdrawals. That’s how much lean I was consuming.”

Bow Wow compared the way he felt to being stabbed in the stomach. The celeb’s publicist Pattie Webster then helped the artist get clean, although the duo claimed he was suffering from dehydration at the time.

The star explained how weaning his body off the substance was “the worst s---," which made him realize he would be staying away from drugs in the future.

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“Kick that s---! Be a good son or daughter. Be the best you,” he penned on social media in 2018 following the death of rapper Mac Miller. “Ima start being more vocal. We gotta save the youth from going out early. Parents watch your kids. Explain to them. We want y’all to live man. I almost died f--- with syrup.”