We all remember the years where Eminem's love for drugs seeped into this ability to create music. Songs like "Rain Man," "Big Weenie" and "Ass Like That," where Em rapped as a puppet puppy, highlighted the rapper's erratic actions during the time. After almost dying from an overdose in 2007, Em decided it was time for a change. Doctors informed Em that he was “about two hours from dying" when he arrived at the hospital, causing the veteran rapper to recalibrate his movements. Since then, Slim Shady has been clean.
Eminem took to social media on April 20th, a day heavily celebrated as a weed smoker's Christmas. Instead of the typical 4/20 celebratory post, Em took a picture of himself holding an 11-year coin from his 12-step program. “11 years,” he wrote as the caption. “still not afraid.” They say once an addict, always an addict, so Eminem found a better way to channel his addiction: running. In a 2015 Billboard piece, Em spoke on how he replaced drugs with exercise. “The coating on the Vicodin and the Valium I’d been taking for years leaves a hole in your stomach, so to avoid a stomachache, I was constantly eating — and eating badly,” he stated. “I got an addict’s brain, and when it came to running, I think I got a little carried away. I became a fucking hamster. Seventeen miles a day on a treadmill. I would get up in the morning, and before I went to the studio, I would run eight and a half miles in about an hour. Then I’d come home and run another eight and a half.”