Eminem relates to Jackson

Dec 4, 2009, 5:01 GMT

Eminem's prescription drug addiction was as bad as Michael Jackson's.

The 'We Made You' rapper says he "100 per cent" identified with the late 'Thriller' star - who died of acute Propofol intoxication in June aged 50 - because he could only function or sleep if he had taken prescription medication.

He said: "When you read things about Michael Jackson it's hard to decipher what the f**k is true, but there's the story of how he woke up at whatever time and he needed something to go back to sleep because he had this or that and it didn't work. That's exactly what used to happen to me: I would take a couple of pills and I would be up an hour later and I'd want more.

"Then I'd take more and that would be enough to maybe get me back to sleep for two more hours. Then I'd be wide awake again. So I definitely can relate, and it's a shame if he didn't have anybody there to just say, 'Michael, you're an addict, you need help.' "

The 'Stan' hitmaker admits his fame and wealth made it much easier to develop a dependence on medications.

He added: "It's one of the pitfalls of fame. I could just say, 'Yo, I need this and this and this,' and they're going to give me whatever I want."

After staying sober for almost two years, the rapper feels better than ever and no longer looks like "fat plastic".

He added to Complex magazine: "I feel better. I feel like a human being again. There was one point in time where I felt like plastic.

"I think I looked plastic. My face was like fat plastic. I was eating, but the Vicodin made me hungry because it eats up your stomach lining, so you want to fill your stomach back up, but then it stops you up so you can't s**t.

"That's why I was gaining so much weight, I was just so f***ing bloated."