Eminem covers XXL Magazine

Eminem is on the cover of XXL Magazine's June 2009 issue and my my my haven't we been working out! The issue will include an exclusive Marvel comic of "The Punisher" featuring Eminem. In this issue of XXL, Em will get in-depth about his past drug habit, the murder of his good friend, and his thoughts on hip hop. Here are a couple of excerpts from his interview.

On his drug addiction,

"I wasn’t ready mentally. I wasn’t ready to give up the drugs. I didn’t really think I had a problem. Basically, I went in, and I came out. I relapsed, and I spent the next three years struggling with it. Also, at that time, I felt like I wanted to pull back, because my drug problem had got so bad. I felt like, Maybe if I take a break, maybe this will help. I started to get into the producer role more… I can still be out there with my music, like with the Re-Up album, but I don’t have to be in the spotlight the whole time."

and on the death of good friend and rapper Proof,

"Everyone felt his loss, from his kids, to his wife, to everyone. But, for some reason, in hindsight, the way I felt was almost like it happened to just me… Maybe at the time I was a little bit selfish with it. I think it kind of hit me so hard. It just blindsided me. I just went into such a dark place that, with everything, the drugs, my thoughts, everything. And the more drugs I consumed, and it was all depressants I was taking, the more depressed I became, the more self-loathing I became… By the way, I’m just now at the point where I’m better talking about it. It took me so long to get out of that place where I couldn’t even speak about it without crying or wanting to cry… Proof was the anchor. He was everything to D12. And not just the group-for me, personally, he was everything."

I always find it hard to watch Eminem's video for his song "Toy Soldiers" starring Proof, it always gives me goose bumps. Here is a special collector's edition copy of the XXL cover,