The Firm album had just come out and “Phone Tap” was one of the greatest beats ever made to me. I remember saying, “If I could just get with Dre, man, my God that’d be so crazy. He’s so fuckin’ ill.” Three weeks later, I was at Dre’s house. That was a fun album to make, but it’s also where everything suddenly changed.
Years later, he reflected on his journey with addiction and the lengths he went to hide the his struggle. After all, the Grammy winner shared that he has been sober for 16 years. Within a month of being released from the hospital, Eminem had a relapse. He is also an example of how dangerous prescription drugs can be. “It was my decision to get clean,” Eminem raps on the 2010 track. “I did it for me. Admittedly, I probably did it subliminally for you, so I could come back a brand new me.”
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He started with Shaun T’s Insanity videos, switched to P90x and then moved to Body Beast videos. When he first started the at-home routines, Eminem said he couldn’t move for two days. But now the 149-pound musician can finally do the videos without pausing. NA is a global support group for individuals recovering from drug addiction.
Eventually, the “Phenomenal” rapper learned how to function sober with the help of running, even to the point where he began to injure himself. Even so, Eminem says that talking about his struggles — in songs like “Going Through Changes” — has been empowering. He says he’s turned the weaknesses he discussed on the album into strengths. He released an album called Relapse in 2009, but says it didn’t reflect his new life of sobriety.
“There are a lot of rappers who have complicated rhyme schemes that are out today, that have been out over the years.” In an interview with Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz, Eminem says he struggled with addiction throughout his career. His drug habit intensified in recent years and even led to an overdose in December 2007. Eminem’s recovery brought profound challenges, including intense addiction cravings, cues from fame, and painful relapses. For years, he confronted demons threatening his renewed passion for music. It took painful relapses and reflections before Eminem relearned how to rap without dependency’s grip.
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“It was easier for me to say that I’m doing it for her because, at that time, I didn’t feel like I was sort of worth much,” he recalled of the early days of their relationship. “I didn’t care as much about hurting myself as I did about hurting her. So, initially it was easier for me to say, ‘I’m doing this for her.’ And now, I’m doing it for myself.” “I had what I call a white light experience where I saw myself either dead or losing everything that meant anything to me,” he continued. He had to sit down then-fiancée Meg Ryan and explain what was going on. “That was the end of the love affair with me and cocaine.” With the dual releases of her fourth studio album No Shame and memoir My Thoughts Exactly, the singer spent much of 2018 getting brutally honest about the height of her addition problems.
- I knew I was coming into it as a guest in the house.
- Eminem’s recovery has been a long time making, but nobody can truly put a time stamp on recovery because life has so many ups and downs.
- “Had I known it was methadone, I probably wouldn’t have taken it.”
- One of the hosts was talking to me and I could not understand a word she was saying.
His name is Marshall Mathers, but he’s better known as hip-hop musician Eminem. Throughout his career, Eminem’s controversial work has attracted both criticism and accolades. He’s won 11 Grammys and an Academy Award, and holds the record for the fastest-selling solo album in history.
Rap and hip-hop music has had a huge influence on American society, and began in the 1970’s, according to Stanford University. Marshall Mathers, otherwise known as Eminem, has had a prominent place in the rap and hip-hop world as he has won 11 Grammys and an Academy Award. As a celebrity and artist, Eminem has helped fans all over the world connect to his messages and stories of abuse, addiction, violence, and more.
“That was the first time I ever realized I had a problem with drugs and alcohol,” Cooper recalled during a 2022 appearance on the Smartless podcast. After a short visit to rehab, a 2007 overdose and a relapse shortly after, the “Stan” rapper sought the guidance of a rehab counselor and has remained sober since 2008. Although it wasn’t easy, sobriety was a pivotal decision eminem addiction in Eminem’s life. Read Eminem’s cover story in the 25th anniversary issue of XXL magazine, on newsstands at the end of September 2022. Check out additional interviews in the magazine with Yung Miami, Bobby Shmurda, JID, GloRilla, Yvngxchris, Sleazyworld Go, Styles P, Jim Jones, Symba, Reason, singer Jessie Reyez, actor Trevante Rhodes and music executive Katina Bynum. The album comes out and it was definitely a wake-up call, a slap in the face, a sobering moment, because I was on a roll and then somehow, I got off this roll.
“My personal experience with it is that everything is better,” she continued. “For me, it was wallowing fuel. And I don’t like to wallow.” “I knew deep down it wasn’t for me,” she shared. “And it just felt so extreme to have to say, ‘But none?’ But none. If you’re allergic to something or have an anaphylactic reaction to something, you don’t argue with it. So I stopped arguing with it.” And after quitting the drug, he soon turned to alcohol—only to also quit that dependency. The two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champ has been open about her misuse of Adderall while battling injuries during her college soccer career.
Eminem in His Own Words – His Place in Hip-Hop, Battle With Addiction and Praising J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar
In an extensive piece for XXL Magazine, Eminem has offered a look back on his place in hip-hop and opened up about his struggles with drug addiction. Em goes on to recount one story from that time period, when he performed for BET’s 106 & Park with 50 Cent and G-Unit and was interviewed afterwards. Eminem has opened up about his former struggles with drug addiction in a personal new essay. By the time he left rehab, Eminem weight had ballooned to 230 pounds. He knew he needed to lose weight and to find a way to function sober. Thus, he turned to running, which gave him a natural high and helped him sleep at the same time.
When I wrap it up in a nutshell, I realize that all the heaviest drug usage and addiction spanned only about five years of my life. It felt like a long time when it was happening, but looking back at it now, it wasn’t that long of a time for my problem to explode as it did. Then the thing happened with Proof and my addiction went through the fuckin’ roof. I remember just after Proof died, I was in my house by myself, and I was just laying in bed and I couldn’t move and I just kept staring at the ceiling fan. I literally couldn’t walk for two days when that happened and eventually my drug use fuckin’ skyrocketed. I had fuckin’ 10 drug dealers at one time that I’m getting my shit from.
Eminem is 11 years sober
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It’s always evolving, and to succeed you need to be constantly aware of that and keep up with it. I want to do things that nobody from this point on can ever top. And again, it’s subjective, and every rapper, especially rappers in competitive rap, wants to be the best rapper. So, I look for the younger generation to push me.
In interviews, Eminem opened up about struggles going to extensive lengths to fuel addiction, recalling in interviews about trips to Tijuana to purchase drugs1. Eminem recently celebrated 14 years free of a growing drug addiction that marked his early fame. As global success brought overwhelming stress, he turned to prescription pills like valium and opioids. One of Eminem’s most prominent struggles has been his drug addiction, which he has battled throughout his career. The Parent Trap actor battled a cocaine addiction throughout the ’80s that sent him to rehab in 1990.
- In a 2022 interview with XXL magazine, Eminem opened up about his drug usage early in his career.
- “It was my decision to get clean,” Eminem raps on the 2010 track.
- I understood, at the same time, everybody’s perception of a White guy coming into hip-hop and all of a sudden things start happening for him.
- “To the youth- Stop with these dumb ass drugs,” he began his series of tweets.
Seventy-five to 80 Valiums a night, which is a lot. My addiction didn’t start in my early days when I was coming up. We used to drink 40s on the porch and just battle rap each other. My drug usage started at the beginning of that first album.
