"That 'Hottest MC'-
list that I was left off, it was one of those things that I was glad that I am at where I'm at. I'm glad I'm in this place now, because a few years ago I would've let it bother me more than it did. I took it not as a slap in the face but more so like, 'Maybe I'm not on that list for a reason. Maybe I'm not doing the things that I need to be doing. Maybe I need to look at myself and step it up.' I don't know what I would have thought being in the mind state that I was in. I just felt like maybe I need to do better."
Canceling Relapse 2 - "
On a record like the new record, when I mention the third verse of 'Talking to Myself,' I try to sum up the last two records in a nutshell," he said. "Mr. Porter, who produced 'On Fire,' had this analogy of Encore and Relapsethat stuck with me: 'Encore I was on drugs, Relapse I was flushing them out.' His view on Relapse was that I was flushing the drugs out my system and looking back at it, I probably was. My mind was coming back, my writing skills were coming back, so I was able to write again because I had writer's block from the pills. I was backed up. I was writing so much and so quickly that I didn't have a chance to stop and say, Are these good songs? Are they great songs? I was just going. I was like, 'I got so much material for three albums, but let's narrow it down to two. Let's put out Relapse 2months later. That was the original plan.
"There are so many drug references on the last album; that's just where my head was at," he continued. "I came to life again and everything was like new. When they say 'in recovery' or 'in rehab', it's like being born again when you get clean and sober. You start appreciating sh-- that you never thought you would appreciate, like, 'Wow, look at those trees. Look at nature.' Before, it didn't matter. I just started appreciating things more. I got happy when I got sober, broke free from the chains — not to sound corny. I broke free from the chains of addiction and it was just like 'Ahh, I'm happy again. I'm not a prisoner.' I was just happy to be back."
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