"It took a long time for my brain to start working again": Eminem opens up on recovering from near-fatal 2007 overdose

American rap star Eminem experienced a near-fatal drug overdose in 2007. The rapper recently appeared on the latest episode of his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg’s Paul Rod podcast on Thursday, September 8. Rosenberg noted that he almost did not survive his overdose in 2007.

Speaking to Rosenberg, Eminem said:

“It took a long time for my brain to start working again.”

Rosenberg replied, saying:

“I mean, you literally were coming off of an overdose and they had to sort of stabilize you with a few medications. So you’re learning 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?”

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Eminem’s manager had concerns that he suffered from permanent brain damage

Eminem said that Rosenberg was concerned that the rapper suffered from brain damage. He said:

“Didn't you ask the doctors when I started recording new s—, when I first started rapping again, and sent it to you, didn't you say, 'I just wanted to make sure he didn't have brain damage?'”

Rosenberg reportedly asked the singer's his doctors if the rapper suffered permanent brain damage as he learned to make music for the first time while sober. He added:

“I thought you might have some permanent problems. Yeah, I was concerned, for sure.”

The pair noted that Eminem had then released a song called Detroit Basketball that was leaked at the time. The song was an example of the work Eminem produced immediately after his recovery and was concerning.

Rosenberg said:

“Nobody was pushing you, you were just finding your way and doing it slowly, but a record that leaked out, that 'Detroit Basketball' record, it wasn't good.”

Eminem agreed, noting:

“It was fu****g weird, because 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 s**t.”

Eminem also noted that he was still in withdrawal while recording the album, and taking “75 to 80 Valium a night.”

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Eminem made his 2009 album Relapse during his recovery phase

The Grammy-award winning artist has been sober since April 20, 2008, as per a Twitter post he shared in 2020. The artist released his album Relapse in 2009, during the early days of his recovery. The singer then noted that he returned to music and felt as if things were new to him again.

Speaking about making Relapse, the rapper said:

“I remember when I first got sober and all the s— was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was f—g new to me again. It was the first album and the first time that I had fun recording in a long time.”

Further adding to the statement, he noted:

“It was like the first time I started having fun with music again, and re-learning how to rap, you remember that whole process. It took a long time for my brain to start working again.”

However, the artist clarified that there will not be a Relapse 2. During the podcast, the singer said there were a lot of songs that did not leak from the Relapse album. He, however, feels that they are terrible songs.

After the release of Relapse, the artist released a set of new albums, including Recovery in 2010 and Music to Be Murdered By, in 2020. Last month, the rapper announced his greatest hit album titled Curtain Call 2. The album will feature Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Snoop Dogg on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards.