Pittsburgh rapper Colicchie rose up from years of struggling with addiction to find success and hope in his music. A rapid decline into drug addiction in his teenage years led to troubles with the law and multiple stints in rehab in his early twenties. After getting clean at age 23, Colicchie began writing raps, turning stories from his tumultuous life into confessional, unflinchingly honest songs. Themes of addiction, depravity, and recovery came up time and time again in songs like "Drug Addiction," "Recover or Die," and "To Whom It May Concern." A video for "Drug Addiction" went viral in 2017, reaching millions of listeners, many of whom were struggling with addiction themselves and took inspiration from Colicchie's story. Colicchie was born Chas Smith in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up without a father, raised by grandparents who picked up the slack for Smith's mother, who dealt with addiction herself. He began experimenting with drugs in his early teens and was fully immersed in heroin and crack addiction by the end of high school. Years of substance abuse led Smith to a dangerous life on the streets and multiple overdoses, all bracketed by short-lived attempts to give drugs up. In 2005 he began rapping, using the creative outlet to support his efforts to stay clean. Performing around Pittsburgh and working toward recording music, Smith drew content for his songs from his own harrowing experiences with addiction and recovery. He was releasing songs and videos online as early as 2012, and moved into more widely heard material with 2017 mixtapes like 19 Days Apart and the two-part series The Last Eleven Years. The video for Colicchie's 2017 single "Drug Addiction" told his story of hopelessness and redemption in detail. The eight-minute epic was viewed over 15 million times in its first year, inspiring many battling their own demons and gaining the rapper new fans and supporters. In 2018 he returned with multiple singles, including "Let Me Rap," "Recover or Die," and "Drug Addiction, Pt. 2," the lengthy sequel to his breakthrough track. ~ Fred Thomas