Timbaland opens about past drug addiction, credits Drake, Jay-Z and Chris Brown for checking his behavior

Timbaland, like many, has been overwhelmed with life — so much so he once took drugs to help him handle all of its pressures. Speaking with Shannon Sharpe, the producer revealed that his addiction started because he was “not really being sure of who I am.”

“I was married at the time, and doing things, you know, not really knowing who I am, chasing things that’s false and just life got a little bit aggressive, it got the best of me,” Tim explains. He says he started with Vicodin and eventually reached a point where he was taking 160 milligrams of OxyContin daily.

“Everybody that I know who done that have died, so I think I even died at one point in time,” he says. “I had an out-of-body experience where I was laying in the bed, and I saw myself laying in the bed. From that point on, God has changed my mind, and I didn’t go to a doctor. I did it cold turkey. I just started weaning myself.”

In hindsight, Tim says the drug addiction impacted his whole life and brought him to the bottom, where he believes God took him to humble him, as he’d been taking a lot of things for granted. Though he admits they helped his once-introverted self become more social, he says drugs also resulted in statements and behavior that peers Jay-Z, Drake and Chris Brown ultimately checked him for.

“I commend people like that for correcting me on my behavior,” Tim said. “Cuz that’s what we need. Even though it might cut to the knife, I don’t look at [it as] … beef.”

“That’s why I say it’s love,” he continued. “Nobody don’t gotta say nothing to watch you fall.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.