Macklemore revealed his relapse, which included using marijuana and sleeping pills, in Complex . The rapper’s battle with addiction was temporarily lost when Macklemore felt pressured by fame and relapsed with drugs to escape, reported MSN .
“I held it together for a while. But, eventually, I stopped going to my 12-step meetings. I was burnt out. I was super-stressed. We weren’t sleeping – doing a show every day, zigzagging all over the country,” said Macklemore.
The relapse resulted from both pressure and notoriety, he added.
“In terms of the media I was getting put into a box that I never saw myself. The pressure and the fame – everything. All the clichés, man, like not being able to walk around, having no privacy, and from this TV appearance to this TV appearance, and the criticism, and the lack of connection, and the lack of meetings – all of that put into one pie was just … I just wanted to escape.”
Macklemore’s relapse halted somewhat when his sleeping pill hiding place (shoes) was discovered by Tricia Davis, his fiancée. However, the rapper then continued to get high on marijuana and also indulged in shopping sprees.
“I sat in a car, a hot boxed car and got high,” said Macklemore. “Everyone knew, but they didn’t necessarily know.”
His relapse was evident, however, to producer Ryan Lewis. The two had devoted more than a year to working on a second album, but Macklemore’s relapse caused him to desire a hiatus from even music.
However, now Macklemore is back to his sobriety and the completion of that album. The rapper credits Tricia, who is pregnant, for her support.
“Since I heard that Tricia was pregnant, I was like, ‘I need to grow up right now.’ “
When Macklemore relapsed , he was at the peak of his success, reported USA Today .
In 2014, he took home four Grammy Awards for “Thrift Shop” and “Same Love,” which were singles, and The Heist album. But even getting the big wins of Best New Artist and Best Rap Album didn’t compensate for the intense stress that Macklemore experienced from publicity and travel for his tours.
In addition to using drugs, Macklemore now admits that he was even attending 12-step meetings while he was high. He also tried to escape by impulsively shopping for everything from jewelry to shoes.
https://youtu.be/yVb9mG_Gf4Y
Producer Lewis recalls his concern.
“Do you want to make this album?” questioned the producer when he became aware of Macklemore’s relapse. “Because it doesn’t feel like you want to be here.”
However, now that the rapper has become sober, he feels that he is grateful for his sobriety as well as for pregnant fiancée, Tricia.
“The sobriety was the wake-up call that I needed. And, as it always works, the minute that I start actively seeking recovery—not just sobriety, but recovery—music is there. It always has been. Songs write themselves. My work ethic turns off-to-on in a second and I get happy again. I get grateful again.”
Now that Macklemore has resumed working on his new album since his relapse ended, he is three-quarters completed.
As the Inquisitr reported, Scott Disick has also struggled with sobriety. However, Disick currently is refusing to go to rehab.
[Photo by Noel Vasquez / Getty Images for Hennessy]
