Introduction: The depiction of substance use in popular music videos is a potential risk factor for consumption among children and adolescents. This study tested whether German and US hip-hop/rap videos differ in nicotine and cannabis content.
Methods: The sample included all German- and English-language videos from the 2024 YouTube Top 100 charts (n = 1,160). Videos were categorized by genre (hip-hop/rap vs. other) and by substance content (nicotine, cannabis, both, none). For videos containing nicotine or cannabis, occurrences were counted. Exposure was approximated by multiplying the number of occurrences by the number of views for each video (March 2025 view counts).
Results: Overall, 41% of videos (n = 479) contained at least one depiction of nicotine or cannabis. This was more common in hip-hop/rap (59.5%) than in other genres (10.1%; OR = 13.11; 95% CI 9.26-18.57; p < 0.001). German hip-hop/rap videos depicted nicotine more often (38.0%) than US hip-hop/rap videos (8.8%; OR = 0.16; 95% CI 0.10-0.24; p < 0.001). Cannabis occurred more often in US hip-hop/rap (37.2%) than in German hip-hop/rap (9.4%; OR = 5.73; 95% CI 3.84-8.56; p < 0.001). In total, 4,478 occurrences of nicotine or cannabis were recorded, resulting in an estimated 57 billion nicotine and 49 billion cannabis impressions.
Conclusions: Music video audiences are widely exposed to substance depictions, particularly in hip-hop/rap. In the USA, cannabis is particularly prevalent, while in Germany nicotine dominates. Preventive measures to reduce young people's exposure include age restrictions and warning messages.
Keywords: Adolescents; Cannabis; Mass Media; Music Videos; Nicotine.