Eminem had to ‘relearn’ how to rap again after he suffered a drug overdose that left his manager concerned he might have 'permanent problems'.
The 15-time Grammy winner spoke about the aftermath of his overdose during an episode of Paul Pod, the podcast hosted by his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg.
The overdose took place 2007, when Em accidentally took too much methadone, but it wasn't until April 2008 that he went sober and wrote Relapse in the early days of recovery - before releasing it in 2009.
During the interview, Rosenberg explained how doctors had to 'stabilise' Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, with 'a few medications'.
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He said: “So, you’re learning how to rap again almost literally, right?
"Because it’s the first time, probably, you were creating without having substances in your body in, however many years, right? So it’s a whole different experience.”
Speaking to XXL, Eminem explained how he had battled a prescription painkiller addiction, admitting that he was taking Vicodin and Valium regularly, and then he started to take Ambien.
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Eminem described the experience of recording his post-overdose album as being 'new to [him]', telling Rosenberg: "I remember when I first got sober and all the s**t was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was f**king new to me again.
"[Relapse] was the first album and the first one that I had fun recording in a long time.
“It was like the first time I started having fun with music again and relearning how to rap."
This year, the 51-year-old celebrated 16 years of sobriety - in that time he has released six albums, with a seventh, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), scheduled for release in the summer.
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Speaking on the podcast, Eminem recalled how it took his brain a 'long time' before it started working properly again.
Eminem said to his manager: "Didn’t you ask the doctors when I first started rapping again, didn’t you say, ‘I just wanna make sure he doesn’t have brain damage’?"
Rosenberg responded: "Yeah. I thought you might have some permanent problems. Yeah. I was concerned, for sure.”
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Shortly after he began his recovery, an unreleased song Eminem had written called 'Detroit Basketball' was leaked to the public, with Rosenberg remembering that it caused concern because it 'wasn't good'.
The rapper responded saying it was a 'weird' period of his life. He said: "As my brain was turning back on, I started going over lines like 'Wait, that's not good.' If you remember, I don't know which version leaked, but if you remember, there were like, 20 versions of that s**t."
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.
Emily Brown