Kid Cudi had a stroke two weeks into his rehab stay in 2016.
The Surfin’ rapper recently spoke to Esquire and told the outlet about his health scare.
In a 2016 Facebook post, Cudi said he had checked himself into a rehabilitation centre for “depression and suicidal urges”. Two weeks into the program, he had a stroke.
The rapper recalled in his interview that in the months after his stroke, his speech and movement were slow.
“Everything was f**ked,” he summarised.
In the wake of the stroke, his manager Dennis Cummings suggested he take a break from releasing music. After Cudi’s 2016 album Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’, his next record Man On The Moon III: The Chosen wasn’t released until in 2020.
The 38-year-old’s stroke required him to undertake several months of physical therapy, Esquire reports. The artist said he didn’t feel totally recovered until a moment in 2017 when he read with Michael Cera for a role in the Broadway play Lobby Hero.
Though the production chose a more experienced actor for Cudi’s role, he said he got something else out of it.
“I proved to myself that I could do it. I needed that at the time,” he shared. “I was happy. Like, damn, my brain is still strong. I didn’t lose something in that s**t that happened.”