Flavor Flav is determined to stay sober for the rest of his life.
Flavor Flav is determined to stay sober for the rest of his life
The 66-year-old rapper, born William Jonathan Drayton Jr., has made the declaration months after admitting to a relapse in April.
He told People magazine about his continuing sobriety journey: “Right now it’s going very well. I’m back on point. I’m back on track, you know what I’m saying?
“And this is the way that I plan on staying for the rest of my life.”
He also offered advice to others struggling with addiction.
Flavor added: “If you take a fall, don’t lay there and stay stuck. You got to get up off of that fall and you have to K-I-M — keep it moving.
“Operation no choice is now in progress. Either you keep it moving, or you stay stuck. And the name of the game is to keep it moving.”
In April, Flavor told fans on Instagram he had “briefly relapsed”, adding he wanted to make the admission publicly to “hold myself accountable”.
In a message to his followers he wrote: “I remain authentic to who I am and a large part of the past 4.5 years for me has been my sobriety journey.
“I think I’ve been an inspiration to many that if I could get sober, anyone can do it. But just when you think it’s easy, it ain’t. I briefly relapsed.
“I say this to admit my mistake and publicly hold myself accountable. I am a human being who makes mistakes and it doesn’t make me a bad person.
“I hope those who are around me support my choice to be sober.”
He added: “I went back to Day 1, again. Time didn’t stop, my journey continues.”
In a 2023 interview on the Off the Record with DJ Akademiks podcast, Flavor said he had once spent “$2,400 to $2,600 a day … for six years straight” on drugs.
He admitted much of his drug use was kept “hidden”, though he said he maintained his outward appearance “very well” despite addiction.
Flavor began his sobriety journey in 2020.
Speaking on the same podcast, he added: “I guess God wanted me to live. And he knows that I’m a mouthpiece to the world.
“So, I feel that God let me live through that, so that way, I could teach people about the mistakes that I made. And hopefully, they won’t make them later on in life.”
In October 2024, to mark World Mental Health Day and the four-year anniversary of his sobriety, Flavor said: “My mental health is an important part of my sobriety journey.”
He marked the occasion by covering the cost of therapy app subscriptions for fans.