beats overdose was conceived and founded by Morgan Godvin.
A longtime supporter of Rhymesayers, she used her love of hip hop to survive her own heroin addiction and incarceration. Rappers that had openly talked about their drug use throughout their careers were overdosing and dying; her friends were, too. She sought a way to do something about it. She merged her twin passions: hip hop and harm reduction.
During her addiction, she used harm reduction services. She credits that as the only reason she is alive and well today. While traditional harm reduction mostly serves people who inject drugs, she became increasingly troubled by reports of people overdosing after taking what they thought were pharmaceutical pills. This has been especially problematic in young people, who are less likely to know that fentanyl has found its way into everything.
Morgan wanted to pivot harm reduction to respond to the shifting demographics of overdose, while still upholding harm reduction’s core values. A central tenet of her recovery is paying it forward, so that others are enabled to survive their drug use as she did. Many of her friends were not as fortunate, and survivor’s guilt is never far from her mind.
Beats Overdose was born. Slug from Atmosphere was its earliest champion after Morgan reached out to him on social media. From there it was supported by the rest of the label. Rhymesayers’ Director of Social Responsibility, Nikki Jean, worked tirelessly to build its capacity. The industry immediately recognized the value—there has been so much loss.
We are continuing our partnership with Rhymesayers Entertainment as we expand. The crisis is too urgent to wait. We can save lives through music and connection.
