Eminem has hopped on a new Juice WRLD track to honor some of Hip Hop’s fallen soldiers who tragically succumbed to substance abuse — something he struggled with himself back in the day.
On Saturday (December 16), Slim Shady shared some of his wisdom as a former addict who made it out the other side on the posthumous joint, “Lace It.” Produced by Benny Blanco and Cashmere Cat, it features a bittersweet verse and hook from the late Chicago rapper followed by Em offering younger artists a word of caution about getting carried away.
“You pop some ecstasy first/ It gets progressively worse/ Try your best to reverse/ Unsuccessfully flirtin’ with certain death/ And revertin’ to your Promethazine urge/ The fuckin’ Devil, he lurks/ Lose your best friends, he smirks/ Wake up and everything hurts,” he begins.
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The D12 rapper then remembers some of his peers who aren’t with us today, citing them as an example of unfulfilled potential while emphasizing the dangers of drug abuse. The verse mentions Juice, Shock G, Lil Peep, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Gangsta Boo, and Pimp C, as well as Prince and Michael Jackson.
“Fentanyl, Oxy, Demerol/ Them are all what possibly got Shock G/ Roxicodone and lean is probably what got Lil Peep and ODB/ So many who OD be way too young to go see me,” he continues. “Juice, we will forever miss you/ To the younger generation/ I ain’t lecturin’ you, but, man/ Just be careful…”
Last year, Eminem opened up about his past issues and admitted that his substance abuse was at its worst shortly after Proof died. The diamond-selling MC nearly died in 2007 after suffering an overdose and has been on the road to recovery ever since. But there was a point when he never thought he’d be able to quell his demons.
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“Drugs became a part of the way I was living my life once I got signed,” he wrote in an op-ed published in XXL. “When I first came out to L.A., me and some guys I was hanging out with used to go to Tijuana and we would buy drugs. Vicodin and that kinda shit. I don’t know how many times we did it, but it was so easy to go back and forth to do it.
“The last time we went, we’re second in line and this dude in front of us starts arguing with the guy in Customs, and they fuckin’ throw him down on the ground and start pulling pills out his pockets and shit. We were scared shitless, but we got through.”
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Had he been arrested that day, he believes his rap career never would’ve happened. His drug usage went into high gear in 1999 with the release of The Slim Shady LP. As he explained, he never tried “hard” drugs until he got famous. Up until then, he’d drink the occasional 40 ounce while freestyling with his friends, but it ramped up to a whole other level once he started making money.
“I was experimenting,” he wrote. “I hadn’t found a drug of choice. Back then you went on tour and people were just giving you free drugs. I managed it for a little while. And then, it just became, I like this shit too much and I don’t know how to stop.”
As Eminem’s profile skyrocketed, so did the criticism. Not only was he a white rapper, but he also knew he was a guest in Hip Hop and felt he had a lot to prove. He admitted the constant barrage of insults hurt and drugs were a way to cope.
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“That’s also when I was starting to battle addiction,” he said. “People obviously didn’t know it yet, but I was starting to realize inside that it was happening, and I always tried to keep it on the low and keep it together as much as I could. I was able to downplay my addiction and hide it for a while until it got really bad.”
He added: “I started taking Ambien on top of everything else. I would take a little to perform, which you would think doesn’t make sense, but Ambien is a mind eraser. So, if you don’t go to sleep on it, you get in this weird comatose state. I see what you’re saying, and I hear what you’re saying, but I don’t comprehend. If you watch back [an interview from that time], you can notice it. That’s when everyone around me knew, ‘He’s fucked up. Something’s wrong with him.’”
