Malcolm Henry
Macklemore has been, mostly, an open book about his battle with substance abuse and dependency. It has been part of song and interview opportunity since he burst onto the scene.
He recently revealed that he had a relapse during the endemic, adding that it is okay to continue to struggle — a message many need to hear.
“It was really painful for myself and for the people who loved me,” he told People, of his summer 2020 relapse. “I stopped doing the work.
“When I have to be still and exist within my own head, that’s where my disease lives… [But] I’m like, ‘You know what? I don’t need to pretend like I’m some perfect dude in recovery.’ I am not at all, and there’s no shame.”
Damn right there is no shame.
It takes more strength to continue your fight and to own the battle than it is to hide it as a functional dependent.
He first opened up about the relapse on a podcast with Dax — also a recovery and relapse fighter — which is something he did not intend to do at the time.
The rapper added that it was the strength of his father that got him on the road the first time, “Getting that help saved my life. I hope that people will come out of the shadows, that the guilt and the shame of the disease of addiction lessen and we don’t feel like we need to hide anymore.”
His last point was big, saying that he did not hide the struggle from his kids. Macklemore and his wife, Tricia Davis, share three children together: Sloane (6), Colette (3) and Hugo (6 mos.), and that they know about what he is going through as a man and father.
“Why would I hide it? It is who I am,” he said. “In terms of Daddy’s sober meetings that he needs to go to, she’s well aware and has been for quite some time.”
Man, good on you, Macklemore.
