In the clip above, Eminem talks about addiction to prescription pain killers. The clip is from the documentary, How To Make Money Selling Drugs, which takes a look at the nation's outdated drug laws.
The documentary is produced by Adrian Grenier. Grenier played Vinny Chase on HBO's Entourage. On the show, in the midst of his own drug addiction, Grenier's character Chase once got into a fight with Eminem.
In the interview, Eminem is surprisingly animated. Despite being one of the most successful rappers ever, Em has been particularly charismatic during interviews. But here, his pain comes across clearly.
"People tried to tell me that I had a problem and I would say, 'Get that fucking person out of here, I can't believe they said that shit to me,'" says Em, in the video. "They know nothing about my fucking life, are they out of their fucking mind? I'm not out there shooting heroin, I'm not putting coke up my nose, I'm not smoking crack."
But of course, prescription pills can be just as dangerous as so-called "hard drugs."
Watching Em talking about his addiction is like listening to a spoken word version of Relapse's best song (and one of my personal favorite Em tracks), "Deja Vu." On that song, and in this clip, the undeniable humanity of his suffering is what makes it so engaging.
A lot of people hated on Relapse—preferring its softer, more optimistic follow-up, Recovery—and complained about his corny accents (which were definitely annoying at times) but those people tend to overlook how the album is a great look into the mind of a lost soul in a vicious cycle of anger, depression, and addiction. It's ultimately an enlightening look into the depths of darkness.
Give "Deja Vu" another listen and you'll see what I mean.
[via Pigeons&Planes]
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