Flavor Flav has a new accomplishment to celebrate, only this time, it’s not for his music, but his sobriety — and he’s feeling very thankful.
On Friday (June 16), the Public Enemy rapper — who has struggled publically with addiction to drugs and alcohol for many years — took to Instagram to share the special moment with his fans.
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According to the post, Flav admitted to smoking cigarettes since he was six years old. Now, the musician-turned-reality TV star is happy to share that he’s been cigarette-free for the past three years.
“IMPORTANT!! I’ve changed. Today I am 3 years clean from cigarettes that I started smoking when I was just 6 years old,” he began. “Soon I’ll be 3 years sober from alcohol. And I’ve been 15+ years sober from drugs. I’m proud to share my sobriety journey, and Thankx to my friends and family and those who support me.
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“To everyone out there struggling with addiction, it is a real battle you fight every day. But I’m still here, and you know what, I DID IT, and if I can do it, anyone can do it!!! To every media outlet that tries to capitalize on my goodwill trending topics and bring up my past or old interviews for sensational clickbait headlines, do better and bring up my future.”
He added: “Allow for people to grow and change in a supportive manner, and Don’t let anyone hold you to your past, I wear the clock, my clock goes clockwise, not counterclockwise, Look forward, not backwards.”
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This isn’t the first time Flavor Flav got candid about battling addiction. Earlier this year, he spoke with DJ Akademiks on his Off The Record podcast about his journey to sobriety and just how serious his addiction got.
During the conversation, the musician admitted that there was a time in his life when he spent over $2,000 a day on drugs.
“I kinda maintained myself very well while I was on that shit,” Flav said of his drug habit. “I kinda kept it hidden so a lot of people didn’t really know. They were trying to figure it out, ‘Yo, is he on something?’ Because I never let people know what I was doing. I started letting people know what I was doing when I was getting tired of being like that.”
He continued: “There was a time that I was spending $2,400 to $2,600 a day for six years straight. You do the math. That’s how much I spent on drugs. I ain’t gonna lie. I sold a lot, but I was my best customer. I had a lot of money at the time too. I was just doing [the] wrong things with my money. I guess God wanted me to live.”
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The Long Island native noted that he opened up about his crack addiction in his 2011 book, Flavor Flav: The Icon the Memoir and that he now feels like a “mouthpiece” to help people avoid similar mistakes.
