Lean is the drink of choice for many rappers, but after it was glamorized by celebrities, codeine company Actavis discontinued its sales in 2014.
2 Chainz says to the Drink Champs Podcast that true lean gets its rosy color from the Actavis, so counterfeit products create concoctions that are other colors.
“They have fake everything now,” he says. “I don’t drink, red, green, nothing like that. All I do is drink Actavis.”
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He goes on to explain why people are drinking “fake lean” that is not purple because the pharmaceutical company stepped in.
“Once Justin Bieber and a few other artists of high caliber started getting caught with this kind of drink…” he says before host N.O.R.E. interrupts him.
“Hold on, Justin Bieber got caught with Actavis?” he exclaims. “We did not know that. Let’s make some noise for Justin Bieber. He’s a nigga. Justin Bieber, you’re officially a nigga.”
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2 Chainz laughs along with N.O.R.E. and co-host DJ EFN before detailing the power of social media in Actavis’ decision to take the codeine off the market.
“It was just every time you saw somebody, it started being something that they would post,” he says. “Soulja Boy to a lot of other cats would post it online. So in my opinion, the company shut down. We gave a warning that we’re shutting down. When they gave that warning, I didn’t believe them, but I kind of did.”
Watch the video of 2 Chainz discussing lean below:
