Rehab was a terrible experience, rapper opens up to the mag

Oct 19, 2011 15:00 GMT  ·  By
Eminem opens up about rehab stint, drug addiction and working on his comeback
   Eminem opens up about rehab stint, drug addiction and working on his comeback

Eminem’s drug addiction and road to recovery is no longer a secret. In a new interview with the latest issue of GQ, whose cover he graces with Lil Wayne and Keith Richards, the rapper goes a bit more into the details of that experience.

Contrary to how he may seem to people, he’s a creature of habit so becoming addicted wasn’t difficult, he says.

In almost no time, because of his entourage and the way his personal life had spun out of control, he was dealing with issues he no longer had any control over.

So, he went to rehab but he doesn’t have the fondest memories of the place.

“Every addict in rehab feels like everyone’s staring at them. With me? Everyone WAS staring at me. I could never be comfortable,” Eminem says of the disadvantage of being famous.

Of course, there were exceptions, but they were too few and far in between.

“There were people there that treated me normal. Then there were a bunch of [expletive]-ing idiots who aren’t even concentrating on their own sobriety because they’re so worried about mine,” Eminem recalls.

“They’re stealing my hats, my books – it was chaos. Everything was drama in there,” he adds.

However, that wasn’t the biggest problem. Not wanting to get clean was what actually held him back for a while from receiving help.

“And at the time, I didn’t really want to get clean. Everybody else wanted me to. And anyone will tell you: If you’re not ready, nothing is going to change you. Love, nothing,” he says.

From that experience, new music was born. Eminem tells the mag that his best-selling album “Recovery” was an incredible challenge because he practically had to start all over again.

He knew many wanted him to fail and he strove to prove them wrong.

“On an emotional level, I want my music to connect with the same kid who I was. So it was like, ‘Okay, let me get serious. Because I feel like I’m being wrote off right now, and I’m kind of on my last leg.’ I felt like the underdog again,” he says.

More from the interview here.