How Timbaland bounced back from a near-fatal overdose
Timbaland was shaping modern hip-hop as early as the 1990s, with his raw sounds bringing a futuristic edge to the genre when he and rapper Magoo released albums that broke away from mainstream rap, but after nearly a decade of success, including working with Beyoncé, Timbaland lost his way.
He started to resent the growing commercialisation of hip-hop, and as problems grew in his personal relationships, which led him to the depths of depression, his close friends, like Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z, would reach out to him, concerned about his well-being. However, beyond music and marriage woes, it was addiction that was causing Timbaland the most pain.
From as young as his 30s, he’d been taking OxyContin to manage chronic nerve pain, which was a result of being shot when he was a teenager. He’d been taking the highly addictive pain medication for years, and as he passed longer and longer stretches sedated by his OxyContin consumption, his career ground to a stall, and he became isolated.
Things were going south, fast; at this point, Jay-Z had to tell Timbaland to stop doing interviews because he wasn’t making sense, his partner would have to check he was still breathing when he slept, and the producer had spent millions on spontaneous purchases that truly struck his finances with a huge blow.
One evening in 2014, Timbaland’s addiction caught up with him, and he suffered an overdose while asleep that nearly killed him, waking up breathless, as if he had been underwater. The experience was terrifying, but in a positive turn, he also reported seeing a light and life, which gave him the conviction to immediately change his ways and take control of his existence.
He took action the very next day, starting the drawn-out process of coming off the pills. The physical withdrawal was brutal, and it took a while to quit completely and reconcile with his chronic pain, but he did, and along the way, he claims that a big motivator for him was refusing to be another statistic in the music industry; he wasn’t going to be a lost talent due to addiction.
As part of his recovery, Timbaland took up boxing and lost 40 pounds, improving not only his physical health, but his creative spark also came back with a vengeance. He went back to producing but with a more innovative bent of mind, preferring working from home rather than a studio, and he experimented using everyday software to make his soundscapes.
Ironically, his previous frustrations with commercialised music became inspiration for his next steps as he explored his old and new potential, discovering an appreciation for what contemporary artists were doing, which led him to collaborate with Young Thug, Sam Smith, and more, turning what was a near-fatal overdose into a reconnection with his life and passion. Today, the man is still a phenomenal producer and also an advocate for addiction awareness. He’s highlighted the many members of the hip-hop community who have difficult backgrounds that make them vulnerable to addiction, and he’s spoken about the dangers of depression for young men, having lived through both and luck enough to come out the other side.
While there’s no silver lining for an overdose, Timbaland’s story led him to a place where he’s more focused than ever. He knows what matters and he’s going to protect it at all costs, be it his health, community or legacy and not be a number on a page for people to shake their heads at in regret.