"King Heroin" is an anti-drug song by James Brown, David Matthews, Manny Rosen and Charles Bobbit.
Brown recorded this poem set to music at a studio in New York with session musicians in January 1972 and released it as a single in March.
It was written from the point of view of the drug, and explained in graphic detail by first-person narrative the effects heroin addiction has on people who use it, from fashion models neglecting their looks, to "the most virile of men losing their sex," to committing murder, to cold turkey withdrawal.
"King Heroin" was another of Brown's stabs of socially conscious music, along the lines of such previous efforts as "Don't Be a Drop-Out" and "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud."
"[3] with studio band: The song was included in the 1991 box set Star Time and the 1996 compilation CD Make It Funky – The Big Payback: 1971–1975.