In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Timbaland opens up about his battle with drug addiction and depression.
“I was on OxyContin,” he says. “Music is a gift and curse. Once you’re not popping, it plays with your mind. The pills helped block out the noise – I’d just sleep all day. I remember Jay-Z told me one time, ‘Don’t do no more interviews’ – because I was saying crazy shit.” The producer started taking pain medication in his thirties to help with a gunshot wound he suffered as a teenager, but his use lead to an increase of drugs, chart downfall and his marriage collapsing. The doses were so high, that his current girlfriend was worried he would die in his sleep.
In fact, Timbaland had a near-death experience three years ago. “All I can tell you is that there was a light,” he says. “I woke up trying to catch my breath, like I was underwater. But through that whole thing I saw life – I saw where I would be if I don’t change, and where I could be if I did.”
In an era of drug users and the passing of stars like Prince and Chris Cornell, he feels the need to speak out about his battle. “These kids come from a place where they don’t have money, don’t have a real home,” he says. “It affects them, and you hear it in the music.”
Read the full interview over at Rolling Stone’s website.