Hip-hop world in state of shock over Eminem:
Many in Detroit's music community were just as shocked as fans to hear Thursday that hip-hop superstar Eminem had entered drug rehab to kick his dependency on sleep medication.
A brief statement released by his record company stated the Oakland Township rapper "is in the hospital under doctor's care."
Longtime friend Hush, whose debut album "Bulletproof" will be released Tuesday, says he could tell that something had been wrong with Eminem.
"Since the beginning of the tour, I've watched his energy sink," says the native Detroit rapper who traveled with Eminem's Anger Management 3 tour. "I could just tell this dude was just exhausted. He was just out of it."
Hush opened the show Aug. 12 during its last stop at Detroit's Comerica Park. He says he was disappointed when Eminem failed to show up Tuesday to shoot a videotaped greeting for Hush's "Bulletproof" CD release party, which takes place Sunday night at the Emerald Theater in Mount Clemens. Hush says until he heard the news reports on Thursday, he had continually called Eminem to see what was going on.
"I hope he gets better," he says. "He's too good of a person and too good of father to let something like this keep him down."
M.C. Serch, host of the WJLB-FM's (97.9) morning show, says Eminem may face an uphill battle.
"First, there's the personal thing he'll have to get over. We're not going to know how deep he was addicted until he comes out of rehab," says the disc jockey, formerly of the rap group 3rd Bass. "The second part is he will have to go out and restore the trust he left with his fans for the past seven years ... that this kind of thing won't happen again. He let down a lot of fans."
Serch says it was the last thing he expected to hear.
"I was surprised that he would have an issue with any kind of narcotic," he says. "I just had a conversation with (famous boxing trainer) Emmanuel Steward who said that Eminem was frequently at the Kronk Gym sparring with (boxer) Octavia Acrec."
Not everyone was thrown off by the news. In fact, Bushman, an afternoon on-air personality also with WJLB, says word traveled slowly.
"I'm really surprised it took the media so long to find this out," says Bushman, who had a cameo appearance in Eminem's 2002 film "8 Mile." He heard about Eminem's addiction some time ago. Despite the heads-up, Bushman says he is worried about the Detroit rapper.
"He's a good guy. Before anyone can ridicule him about his choices, they should think about his health," Bushman says.
"Em takes care of a lot of people who count on him for support. There were probably a lot of days he woke up and said, 'How am I going to cope with this today?' That's a lot of pressure for one person.
"I hope people look past what they think and say a prayer for him. I wish him a speedy recovery."
taken from shadysoldiers.com