Flavor Flav reveals he spent $2600-a-day on drugs for 6 YEARS at height of his addiction – but says ‘God wanted me to live’ as he reflects on 2 year sobriety
Flavor Flav has revealed he spent $2600 a day on drugs for six years at the height of his addiction in a candid chat with DJ Akademiks’ Off The Record Spotify podcast.
The musician, 63, who celebrated six years of sobriety in October, said he kept the extent of his addiction hidden and ‘maintained himself well’ – as he spent up to $1million a year on drugs.
The star – whose real name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr. – said: ‘I maintained myself very well while I was on that s**t, you feel me? I kept it hidden.’
Emotional: Flavor Flav has revealed he spent $2600 a day on drugs for six years at the height of his addiction in a candid chat with DJ Akademiks’ Off The Record Spotify podcast
‘There was a time I was spending $2400-$2600 a day for six years, you do the math. And that was how much I spent on drugs.
‘I sold a lot but I was my best customer, I had a lot of money but I was just doing the wrong things with my money.’
He added: ‘Back in the days, when we used to make drug records, we used to talk about selling drugs.
‘Talking about who can make the most money off drugs, who’s balling off selling drugs. It was a competition thing to all of the hustlers.
Tough time: The musician, 63, who celebrated six years of sobriety in October, said he kept the extent of his addiction hidden and ‘maintained himself well’ – as he spent up to $1million a year on drugs (pictured 2015 after he was charged with driving under the influence of cocaine)
Sober now: ‘There was a time I was spending $2400-$2600 a day for six years, you do the math. And that was how much I spent on drugs’
The star reflected on his recovery, saying: ‘God wanted me to live because he knew I was a mouthpiece for the world so I can teach people about the mistakes that I made.
The star has had a chequered past with drug abuse.
In 2015, he was charged with driving under the influence of cocaine after being arrested on a Las Vegas highway.
The hip hop legend also was charged by Clark County prosecutors with speeding and having an open container of alcohol.
Drayton in 1993 was charged with domestic violence along with cocaine and marijuana charges and later checked into the Betty Ford Centre for treatment of a crack cocaine addiction.
He also went to rehab in 1997 at the Long Island Center For Recovery.
Drayton returned to the public eye in 2004 when he joined the cast of the VH-1 reality show The Surreal Life.
His relationship with Brigitte Nielsen on The Surreal Life spawned more reality shows on VH-1 including Strange Love and the Flavor Of Love series.
Public Enemy in 2013 was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Candid: The star reflected on his recovery, saying: ‘God wanted me to live because he knew I was a mouthpiece for the world so I can teach people about the mistakes that I made (pictured 2019)
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