Royce Da 5’9″ talks about his drinking problems in the past.
Royce Da 5’9″ who is sober for almost a decade, has often talked about the struggle with alcohol, and how he got through it with help from family and friends. He recently appeared in the third episode of the newly launched “Breaking Anonymity” podcast by Kyle Eustice and MC Serch. On the show, Royce Da 5’9″ recalled serving jail time after being caught for a DUI (Driving under the influence).
“I made everything more difficult,” Royce says at the 17:30 min mark. “I turned everything into the long way. It just got to a point where I got DUIs, like a lot of drinking and driving, so I end up going to jail for a year. I was leaving the house, like I think I gave my son a high-five, thinking I’m going to another day in court. My lawyer told me I’d be fine, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll be right back.’ I came back a year later.”
“The prosecuting attorney recommended probation, but the judge was like, ‘No, I’m going to do that,’” explains Royce. “She said, ‘Mr. Montgomery, do have anything to say before I sentence you?’ I was like, ‘I don’t have much to say your honor. I’m sorry,’ whatever I said. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good enough. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway.”
He continues, “The Judge said ‘I’m sure alcohol and drugs are free-flowing in your business and you can’t seem to control yourself so I gotta shut you down, so I’m going to give you the maximum amount of time, and that’s 365 days in jail. Step up to the bailiff.’ And my lawyer started stuttering, ‘Your honor, do you think we can talk about work release?’ She was like, ‘Not at this time.‘”
“That whole process gave me the opportunity to get some of the best sleep I ever got. It gave me the opportunity to not be in control of the speed at which things were going. It made everything slow down. It made me do some thinking, be alone. Once I accepted the fact I was going to be there for a minute, it became easy. The time just started flying by. A lot of people drew their line in the sand, relationship-wise, and showed me who they were, which was necessary in that moment.”
He recently celebrated 8 years of sobriety with a performance at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. Royce previously talked about how Eminem him when he decided to quit drinking. “Eminem helped me all the way through,“ he said in the “Why I Quit Drinking” Column. “He was one of the first people I called. I let him know I needed help. I came back to Detroit and he, Tracy McNew, and Paul Rosenberg at Shady Records checked me into this hospital and I went and saw Em’s doctor. It was an impatient thing, where they monitored me while I slept, with IV’s in me to make sure I didn’t succumb to alcohol withdrawal symptoms and that I could sleep right. I stayed in there for a few days and when I got out I immediately started seeing my therapist, who I still see to this day.”
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