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Flavor Flav is open about drinking after it recurred in April.
The rapper spoke only to people on September 18th, when he was attending the 2025 Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) Gala in Beverly Hills, California. During the conversation, he shared that he was “on track.”
“Now, it’s going very well. I’m back to the point. I’m back on track. Do you know what I’m saying? And this is what I’m going to stay for the rest of my life,” Fav, 66 said.
He then continued to share his advice for others who are currently on his drinking journey.
“Don’t fall and lie there and get stuck,” he said.
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Public Enemy co-founder shared that it had “temporarily recurred” in a message to fans shared on an Instagram story on April 3rd. In the post, he said he was sharing information on social media because he wanted to be “publicly responsible.”
“I remained authentic about who I am and for the majority of the last 4.5 years it’s been my drinking journey. I think I’ve been inspiring a lot of people.
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He continued, “But when you think it’s easy, it’s not. I’ve recurred easily. I say this to admit my mistakes and to be publicly accountable. I’m a person who makes mistakes and doesn’t make me a bad person.
“I’ve returned to the first day again. Time won’t stop and my journey continues,” he added at the end of the post.
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During his appearance on the 2023 record on DJ Akademiks Podcast, Flav revealed that he had spent “$2,400-2,600 a day… for six consecutive years” on drugs before he became sober.
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He said he continued to “hidden” his drug use primarily and kept himself outside “very well” despite suffering from addiction. He eventually began his drinking trip in 2020.
“I think God wanted me to live, and he knows I am the mouthpiece of the world,” he said on the Records Podcast. “So I feel God will let me live through it, so if I do that I could teach people about the mistakes I made, and hopefully they won’t make them in life later.”
In addition to openly sharing his experiences with substance addiction, Flav, born in William Jonathan Drayton Jr., uses his platform to promote mental health awareness.
In October 2024, in honor of World Mental Health Day, the rapper spoke about his fourth anniversary of sobriety, saying, “My mental health is an important part of my drinking journey.”
To honor the milestone, he offered to pay for a subscription to the therapy app for the day.
