Royce Da 5’9 released his first solo album in five years, Layers last week. The project details the Detroit rapper’s road to recovery after dealing with alcoholism. In a recent interview with Billboard, Royce breaks down the album track by track. While decoding “Quiet,” Royce explains how Eminem was influential in helping him battle his addiction.
“[Eminem] was actually the person that I called when I decided to get sober,” the Bad Meets Evil member says. “We still have conversations to this day about sobriety in general and we’ll just swap experiences and thoughts. That’s very helpful when trying to battle something like addiction. I learned a lot from him by him just telling me his experiences and I’m pretty sure he learned a lot from me. That’s basically how it goes in the world of sobriety.”
Eminem had his own struggles with drug abuse and experienced an overdose before turning to exercise to guide him on his road to recovery.
When detailing “Startercoat,” Royce says that his experiences have taught him not to judge people, including his uncle who struggled with addiction to crack cocaine. He explains that his trips to Alcoholics Anonymous gave him the perspective that everyone has problems they must deal with.
“Nobody’s problems are really bigger than anybody else’s,” he says. “If you woke up five days last week and didn’t know where you were, how is that any different from me going to the studio, bullshitting with making music and almost losing my family? Both are just as tragic if you think about it.
“So when I reflect on my uncle’s crack problem, I figure, how can I say anything about him? I’m an alcoholic. How can I even judge him? If anything, I should be trying to pick him up. Shit. Just because I’m the guy in the family that’s making the money doesn’t mean there’s not bad shit being said about me for having a problem.”
To read the entire interview with Royce Da 5’9, visit Billboard.
For additional Royce Da 5’9 coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
one of the best to do it, nice article royce
Everyone needs a friend like Eminem
Thank you Ryan 🙂 Remember your just a “human being” like everyone else. We all have our struggles; some larger then others. Just remember to stand 6’8 (with Eminem’s help), and keep on being 5’9 🙂
Everytime this nigga name pop up, he talking about Em again, smfh. Royce got Em dick so far down his throat, he suffocating on that shit.
It’s cause he gets asked about em all the time you dumb nigga. Even if he didn’t he should be grateful that Em brought him in the business and got him a platinum plaque + you can’t really run from it as the first song on the album is talked about all the time which it’s about his grandma dying, his son being born and him meeting Eminem all in the same day.
I call Em when I take a shit.
AHHHHH you smell that Em
I like the reference to exercising as a way to cope with cravings and reduce stress. I’m a lot less comfortable with the reference to Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is perpetually talked about in the media despite supposedly being based in “anonymity,” but then that contradiction is only part of the illogic and religious-cult type thinking of AA.
There are 11 other major alternatives besides AA. None of them require lifelong membership, which makes a lie of one of AA’s founding ideas, that it is “jail, institution, death” if one doesn’t follow the often bizarre mandates/suggestions (note while they are called “suggestions” you are supposed to die if you don’t follow them, so that they aren’t really “suggestions). But the biggest lie/contradiction is that AA is the best/only treatment for addiction, when it has a 5% success rate.
11 Major Alternatives to AA
(circa 2016)
Free Self-Help
hamsnetwork.org
smartrecovery.org
sossobriety.org
womenforsobriety.org (includes men for sobriety)
lifering.org
moderation.org
addicttoathlete.org
reddit.com (entirely online)
Help involving paid professionals
rational.org
sinclairmethod.com (for alcohol)*
ibogainealliance.org (for opiates)***
*use medication to rewire the addiction pathways in the brain
**aftercare is recommended, such as genesisiboganiecenter.com, holistichousevegas.com, and medicineheartrecovery.com