As T.I. has previously shared, his addiction to prescription drugs began shortly after his release from prison in 2010 when he got hooked on oxycontin and hydrocodone to relieve the pain he suffered after numerous oral surgeries.
Last year, T.I. explained to VIBE that he feared his drug use was spiraling out of control and reached out to Eminem, who’s had his own famous battles with drug addictions, for counsel on how to determine if he had a drug addiction or not.
“I asked him how he knew he was an addict,” Tip said. “[He said] basically, if you put yourself in harm’s way … if you risk that, you’ve got to assume that there is something fundamentally wrong with your thought process.”
Now, in a recent interview with Billboard’s The Juice, T.I. explains that he hasn’t seen Eminem since he was released from his second prison stint in September 2011, but salutes him as the man who helped him overcome his drug addictions.
“I haven’t had a chance to speak to Em since I’ve been home,” T.I. said. “I heard that while I was down, he was trying to get in contact with me, but I don’t know if the dots just didn’t connect. [Eminem] overcoming his own adversities, winning the battle against his own demons and continuing to break the mold and reset the standard of what it means to be the most successful hip-hop artist in the game … I salute that to no end.”
Tip shared a final bit of wisdom for anyone else trying to overcome their drug addictions or troubled life.
“It starts with you on the inside,” he said. “I can give all the advice in the world, but at the end of the day you just got to make that decision internally with yourself. You have to see that you are ready to make a change. Until that moment comes, all the advice in the world is going to be in vain ’cause I’m going to be talking to a brick wall.”
“Everybody can tell you what you need to do, how to do it, when you need to do it, how bad you need to do it,” T.I. continued. “But until you get that right a– whipping, as they say, and until you have hit rock bottom or have seen something in yourself that is so out of character and it displeases you so much that you just have no choice but to change it … then you ain’t going to see it.”
Well, kudos to T.I. for beating his drug addictions. Here are seven other celebs who have overcome their drug addictions. –nicholas robinson
