Eminem interview with new york post

Eminem's interview with The New York Post released just before the VMAs
Speaking to The Post in an exclusive interview from his studio outside of Detroit, Eminem reveals the stranglehold drugs had on him and the steps he took to revitalize his career.

Do you remember when you took your first pill?
I took my first Vicodin when I was 24 or 25. I liked anything with codeine in it. It was easy in the beginning. I didn’t have the money to get really involved in drugs. I’d do them when somebody offered them to me. As my career took off and the crowds got larger and life got faster, I reached out for that sh – - more and more. I used it as a crutch to calm my nerves. Especially the sleeping pills.
Now when you listen to albums like “Encore” and “Relapse,” can you hear the effect drugs had on you?
There’s reflection of the drugs in the music. I can listen to songs now and hear how high I was. I can also hear the songs where I wasn’t high at all. But as the pills progressed and progressed, right around the “Encore” album, I think the drug use was obvious.
What impact did the pills wind up having on your music?
They stifled me — they stopped my brain off. I don’t know if I was frying brain cells or what, but I couldn’t think. The drugs also made me lazy.
How did they make you lazy?
I was lazy about everything. I’d get high and say, “F – - – writing rhymes. I wanna sit down, watch some TV and eat nachos — and watch more TV.”
Didn’t any of your friends tell you to get off your butt?
Proof [Eminem’s childhood friend, who died in a shooting in 2006] would call me out on my bulls – - – . He’d say what was on his mind. But as close as he was, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t ready to listen. There wasn’t a person who could tell me I had a problem.

When did you feel like you were back in shape as a rapper?
It was four or five months after I’d been clean when I started to get a glimmer of my writing skills back. I don’t remember what song I was working on specifically, but I do remember getting feeling back in the music. I realized I wanted to do this again.

READ THE REST OF THE INTERVIEW HERE:-New york post