Eminem Says He Invented Slim Shady Because ‘My Life Was F—ed Up’

sober rappers

As you can imagine, being the lone teenage white kid working at the rap magazine, championing a white rapper was a position about which no one could be less enthusiastic than I was. And my interest was, unsurprisingly, met with a healthy volume of skepticism. But I got Jesse Washington, the EiC, to meet with Paul and as soon as he heard the record, Jesse sent me to LA. It was June of 1998 and I was an editorial assistant at an upstart hip-hop magazine, BLAZE. A 19-year-old NYU freshman at the time, I had just scored my first business trip—an assignment in Los Angeles(!) for the premiere issue of the magazine.

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sober rappers

When you picture the lives of your favorite famous singers you might imagine them popping bottles of champagne after their sold out concerts or drinking Grey Goose at A-List parties. More than seven years ago, however, I went to treatment because I didn’t want to die. More than seven years ago I got “me” back, and now I am a much better version of myself. My drumming is better than ever, and I can remember what I did yesterday. I have a close relationship with my daughter now, I have healthy friends and relationships, and our band is stronger than ever as well. Andre 3000 may experiment with bow ties and suspenders, but he doesn’t toy with drugs.

  • He said they were listening to a mix for his album, and told us to get in the backseat.
  • I have a life that I never knew existed — a great life.
  • “No to drugs, I never spark it”, Tyler said on the first track of his very first project, Bastard.
  • No woman is an island I soon realized and so decided I needed to get out of the apartment and find some fun things to do before I became all Grey Gardens (minus the Hamptons location).

Aparigraha – The Practice of Moral Restraint Sobriety in Flow

Don Fertman reaches bottom as the jelly donut hits the wall. The latest installment of the longtime Subway exec’s memoir. As my song “Amazing” says, “With the blink of an eye you finally see the light.” My journey continues one day at a time. The gift of desperation led me through the doors of Narcotics Anonymous and out of the darkness of addiction on Oct. 18, 1988.

sober rappers

Subs & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Part 3

In an interview with Vibe, he explained why he stopped using drugs around that time. “…I actually looked in the mirror and saw myself deteriorating. I was like man we’re doing too much. Way too much.” Along with being sober, Andre 3000 has also been a vegetarian for nearly two decades. It’s easy to assume that Lecrae leads a sober rappers straight-edge lifestyle because he’s a Christian rapper. “I tried pretty much every drug there was to try,” he explained to “Complex.” Lecrae left that lifestyle behind and now refrains from drugs and alcohol. Unlike some of his fellow Odd Future members, Tyler, The Creator made a deliberate decision to not smoke or drink.

sober rappers

The Daily Llama’s Weekly Word of the Day and Meditations

  • Many rappers abstain from drugs and alcohol for personal and/or professional reasons.
  • If we missed anything you’d like to add, write us in the comments.
  • Unfortunately, drug use in hip hop is nothing new, as we have lost talents like Pimp C, Mac Miller, and Juice WRLD to overdoses.

We are not responsible for the disease, but we’re responsible for what we do about it. After almost dying from a drug overdose, the rapper decided to clean up his act. In fact, here is a list of performers that don’t drink at all, which which challenge society’s alcohol-soaked stereotypes of rock stars and famous singers. Today I live a life free from the slavery of addiction. I have a life that I never knew existed — a great life. The promise of being happy, joyous and free has been fulfilled a day at a time.

Name it, and your favorite rapper has probably rapped about it. Yet the stereotype of the drug-addled rapper doesn’t apply universally. Several dinosaurs are out there living by the drug-free, or straight edge, code. Many rappers abstain from drugs and alcohol for personal and/or professional reasons. While many musicians struggle with drugs and alcohol, others choose to remain sober or get clean after experiences with addiction. There are many sober rappers in the hip hop community.

During the several days that we worked together on capturing the photos for this cover and the Face-Off digital short, I got to spend more face time with Marshall than I had since ’98. Yes, he still has—without any sense of clinical authority beyond having read Walter Issacson’s Steve Jobs bio—what I would describe as a neurotic obsession about absolutely every element of his process and his product. And he is absolutely as competitive about his craft as he was standing in front of that mic at the Wake Up Show in ’98.

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  • He’s achieved every professional accolade many times over, and earned enough money that his grandkids’ grandkids will be using gold bars for Lincoln Logs.
  • While many musicians struggle with drugs and alcohol, others choose to remain sober or get clean after experiences with addiction.
  • After a near fatal overdose he began to piece his life together.

“There were lots of people in that audience, people who were far closer to Justin than me, they just didn’t have loud people around them like I did. The former Palmetto Playground, at the southern edge of Brooklyn Heights, where Mr. Yauch played basketball, was recently renamed Adam Yauch Park in honor of the rapper, who died of cancer last year. The vibe was creative and collaborative, and many times we even got to see Eminem smile—without Photoshop. I certainly wouldn’t pretend to know Marshall well enough to say he’s “at peace” or anything, but it was absolutely uplifting to see him so easygoing and emotionally free.

sober rappers

Lighthouse Pictures Ups Jameson Parker to CEO Following Acquisition by Martini Film Studios (EXCLUSIVE)

  • “I invented you because my life was f—ed up. My music was going nowhere and I was broke,” Eminem, 51, told a younger and AI version of himself.
  • It was a deeply personal album that separated him from his Slim Shady alter ego.
  • And quite evidently they all strongly believe—whatever their varying reasons and circumstances and perspectives and challenges—that sobriety has made life better.