The most popular drug in hip-hop history isn’t the one you think it is.

Over the last 30 years, rappers have mentioned, paid homage to, and warned against the pitfalls of drugs, from lean to Xanax. We used the Genius lyrics database to track drug trends through song lyrics. From Grandmaster Melle Mel in 1984 to Future in 2016, every artist referencing the drug of the moment is only a piece of a larger puzzle—a story told through rap.

1980s

In 1984, Grandmaster Melle Mel released “White Lines (Don’t Do It),” an anti-drug message disguised as a party anthem. Shortly thereafter, Kool Moe Dee doubled down on the message in “Crack Monster,” a song dedicated to the “devil” that was encroaching on life in black America.

In the late 1980s, Tone Loc’s “Cheeba Cheeba” and the Beastie Boys' Paul’s Boutique signaled marijuana’s march toward ubiquity.

1990s

Spurred by the arrival of Cypress Hill’s self-titled debut album in 1991 and Dr. Dre’s The Chronic in 1992, marijuana’s popularity increased exponentially, peaking in 1993 as the most popular drug in hip-hop. By the mid-1990s, the percentage of rap songs with drug references increased from just four tracks in the early 1980s to 45 percent of all hip-hop tracks.

The rapid rise of drug references laid waste to Ice-T’s message of abstinence, as Jay Z, the Notorious B.I.G., and Snoop Dogg dropped albums with first-hand accounts of the 1980s crack epidemic. Their experiences selling drugs (and smoking them) translated into platinum-selling records, fueling a generation of rappers intent on telling the story of the hustler. By 1998, cocaine had overtaken marijuana as rap’s most talked-about drug. This trend persisted through the early 2000s with Jay Z, Raekwon, and the Clipse—all of whom kept the hustler-rapper Mafioso persona at the forefront of hip-hop culture.

Early 2000s

While cocaine dominated the first half of the 2000s, another trend was brewing. Three 6 Mafia’s “Sippin’ On Some Syrup” and Big Moe’s City Of Syrup set the stage for hip-hop’s new drug of choice—lean. Unfortunately, this also brought tragedy. DJ Screw passed away in 2000 and UGK’s Pimp C died from a codeine overdose in 2007, right around the time Lil Wayne was diving in head first.

Although Wayne popularized lean in the late 2000s, Houston group the Botany Boys were some of the first MCs to mention lean on wax. Their 1995 record, Smokin’ N’ Leanin’, is littered with references to syrup, some 20 years before Atlanta’s Future released Dirty Sprite 2—an ode to the drug he denies being addicted to.

Late 2000s

Following lean’s late-2000s popularity, the hype briefly died, making way for MDMA’s 15 minutes of fame. The drug, also known as ecstasy and “molly,” entered the national conscious in 2009, and hip-hop didn’t take long to catch on. Jay Z referenced the substance that same year on “Empire State Of Mind,” his most commercially successful single of all time, and again in 2013 on “Tom Ford.”

This wasn’t enough to keep “molly” in the mainstream. After Trinidad James’ 2013 “All Gold Everything” meme line—“Popped a molly, I’m sweatin’, woo”—fizzled out, “molly” became a certified fad.

Today

Since molly’s fading popularity and the increase in codeine mentions, other over-the-counter and prescription drugs have crept into hip-hop’s woozy landscape. The most popular is Xanax—an Eminem staple. Rap’s obsession with Xanax began in 2011 when Tyler, The Creator mentioned the pill on “Yonkers.” Since then, Young Thug, Future, and 2 Chainz have all mentioned Xanax in their music.

While most listeners would agree prescription pills are becoming more prevalent in hip-hop, the Rap Stats graph below shows that they only take up a small percentage of drug mentions in 2015/2016. Will that change? We’re not sure, but if the most popular rapper in the world (Kanye West) continues to mention Xanax, we might be in for a surprise.