In 2013, the Carolina Reaper earned the Guinness World Record for being the hottest chili pepper in the world. A crossbreed between a ghost pepper and a red habanero, the chili averages around 1.6 million Scoville Heat Units (for contrast, a jalapeño clocks in between 2,500 and 10,000). Rapper and YouTube personality Mac Lethal didn’t have to choose the hottest pepper in the world after a fan suggested he “rap after eating something spicy,” but, well, for better or worse, that’s exactly what he did.
After an introductory flow prefacing the task, Lethal downs the entirety of the red dehydrated pepper—right down to the stem—and is almost immediately besieged by a sensation that’s been described by others as “eating molten lava.” Lethal barely gets out words, let alone an entire verse. It’s not hard to predict what happens next.
Yeah, turns out eating the hottest pepper in the world isn’t just daring, but, like, legit dangerous. Lethal chugs milk and barfs it up before describing the agony of his stomach and swollen throat.
It apparently makes a great salsa, though.