How Future and Lil Wayne inspired Moneybagg Yo’s hit song about lean addiction
Moneybagg Yo is one of the rappers leading the way out of Memphis. The 34-year-old signed to Yo Gotti’s CMG label in 2016, representing an exciting crop of artists that include Blac Youngsta, 42 Dugg, EST Gee, and GloRilla. His album, A Gangsta’s Pain, topped the Billboard 200 chart in 2021, and he’s landed multiple hit singles.
One of the biggest tracks of his career is also one that details a drug that had a detrimental impact on his body. His song ‘Wockesha’, released five years ago, is dedicated to lean. Throughout the song, Moneybagg touches on his love of the cough syrup that contains a mixture of codeine and promethazine.
In the pre-chorus, he raps, “One minute I’m done with you, the next one I be runnin’ back/ Go your way, I go my way, but somehow we be still attached/ Tryna find my answers with this cup, but ain’t no truth in that/ They be like, I’m dumb for fuckin’ with you, I spend stupid racks.”
The lyrics combine his love of the drug with his feelings for a significant other. Produced by Real Red, YC, and Rockamore, the record samples DeBarge’s 1983 song ‘Stay with Me’. Biggie Smalls famously sampled the song in 1995 for ‘One More Chance’, with Ashanti also using it for her 2002 hit, ‘Foolish’.
Moneybagg explained that the inspiration for the track came from drug-fuelled songs from Future and Lil Wayne. “I was sitting in the studio, and to be honest, we were just going through a lot of samples,” he told DJ Khaled for Interview Magazine. “But I really went in with the mindframe to do a song about lean, like how Future had all the songs about codeine. And Wayne did ‘Me and My Drank’.”
He continued, “I was looking for that type of vibe. I’m going through different samples, and then Ashanti spoke to me when she’s saying, ‘One minute, I want you. One minute, I’m running back to you.’ So I’m like, ‘Damn. This is exactly the point I’m trying to get across right there.’ I flipped it and put it in a way where I’m like, ‘I’m going to talk about what I talk about, but I’m going to act as if I’m speaking to a woman.’ I just caught the vibe right there.”
The song was a hit in the US, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s also three times platinum, marking one of his biggest records. Wayne appeared on the intro of the original track, but Moneybagg went on to recruit Weezy for the official remix, also featuring Ashanti.
A year later, Moneybagg ended up quitting lean altogether. He soon realised that putting down the drug had no negative impact on his creativity, and he had experienced the many benefits of going sober. “I use to think being sober would fuck wit my creative process,” he wrote on X. “I see dats just a mind thing cuz I been more active skin glowing and I been dropping nun but pressure #NomoWockesha.”