13 February 2020
Newsdesk
The 47-year-old producer grew reliant on opiods after he was prescribed them following a dental procedure and though he doesn't want to "glorify" his habit, he admitted the pills made him feel "amazing" and more confident.
He said: "It takes over you. It's something that takes over your body. I don't want to glorify it, but it feels amazing. It makes you feel like a superhero. It gave me confidence."
Timbaland admitted he initially thought the pills were helping him be more creative but eventually realised all he'd produced was a "hot mess".
Speaking on 'Tamron Hall', he said: "The pills make you function, but sometimes you would nod off while people were talking to you because it would make you fall asleep, but it would make you function because everything feels great.
"It could be a bad moment going on, but the pills block all that out. I thought some of the pills were making me create, but as I went back to listen to some of my music I was like, 'Oh this is not a creation, this is a hot mess.' "
The 'If We Ever Meet Again' rapper eventually went "cold turkey" to beat his addiction after realising it was damaging his relationship with then-wife Monique Mosley and their children.
He said: "My marriage was new and I was scared of it. I think the pills helped me deal with the marriage at the time.
"But when I had my daughter and my son, I kept looking like, 'I want to be here for my kids' and it just hit me one day. I didn't go to rehab; I cut cold turkey. My kids were my backbone to living."
