Update: 5:50 PM EST (October 5, 2018) – According to TMZ, Lil Peep’s family denies Jones having any connection to the rapper.
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Michael Jones, a SoundCloud rapper who goes by New Jerzey Devil, was arrested and charged Wednesday (Oct. 3) for distributing a fatal supply of heroin and fentanyl to a woman named Diana Haikova. Through this arrest, the DEA came to their own conclusion that emo rap is one of the causes of the opioid epidemic plaguing the nation.
“This investigation led us into the underbelly of emo rap and its glorification of opioid use,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt in a statement, in regard to Jones’ musical genre. After earlier reports stated that Jones was a member of the emo-rap collective GothBoiClique, members of the group and the label confirmed that he was not.
Police say that Jones was in Long Island for Lil Peep‘s funeral back in December 2017. He reportedly met the now-deceased 29-year-old woman at a hotel party, where he gave her drugs. She was found dead in her apartment a few days later.
Lil Peep was just 21 when he was found unresponsive on his tour bus before a show. He was pronounced dead of an apparent accidental overdose of Xanax and fentanyl. In a statement, Peep’s family says that the “Awful Things” musician had no relationship with Jones.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were nearly 50,000 opioid-related deaths in 2017. While there’s no telling what is the true reason for the opioid crisis in America, it’s debatable as to whether the new wave of emo rap content is part of the reason.
READ MORE: Hip-Hop Has An Opioid Problem Too, And It’s Time People Cared