Eminem had to ‘relearn’ how to rap again after drug overdose
Eminem is one of the greatest and most respected rap artists of all time, and his journey to stardom has been well-documented.
This includes his ups and downs, and one of the more publicised aspects of his time in the spotlight was his battle with drugs and addiction early on in his career.
The artist, whose real name Marshall Mathers, the Detroit-native suffered an accidental drug overdose on methadone, back in 2007.
Following the incident, Eminem decided to go sober in 2008, and the 52-year-old is set to reach the 17-year mark next month.
Advert
However, following the near-death experience, Mathers admitted that he had to 'relearn' how to rap again - which you never would've been able to tell by listening to his tracks post-2007.
The American rapper's first project after his overdose was called Relapse, written in the early stages of his recovery and released in 2009.
This was then followed up by an album called Recovery, in the following year, featuring classic tunes like 'Not Afraid' and 'Love the Way You Lie' - talk about returning with a bang.
But back in 2022, during an appearance on the Paul Pod, a podcast that's hosted by his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg, they spoke about the ordeal and opened up about the struggles he faced.
During the interview, Rosenberg recalled how doctors had to 'stabilise' the rapper with 'a few medications', saying: “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.”
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 sh*t was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was f*cking 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," Eminem added.
The rapper went on to reflect with Rosenberg about how it took a 'long time' for his brain to start 'working again', and about the manager's concerns for Eminem in the aftermath of his overdose.
"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’?" Eminem asked.
Eminem has previously spoken openly about the recovery from his overdose, as well as how he had to 'relearn' how to rap, telling The New York Times in 2009 that he would 'stack a bunch of words and just go down the line and try to fill in the blanks and make sense out of them'.
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 admitted it was 'f**king weird', adding: "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 sh*t."
The artist would go on to release a number of legendary hits, such as 'The Monster', 'Rap God' and 'River'.
Joshua Nair