Kid Cudi Opens Up About Weed and Addiction

Kid Cudi is getting real about his weed habit. The Ohio-born rapper has released his memoir, (Cudi: The Memoir), and in it, he goes in-depth on his struggles with relationships, his career, and his battles with addiction. In an interview with PEOPLE, Cudi shared just how much marijuana took over his life.

“I just was in this place where I was abusing it," Cudi explained. "I was really abusing it. I was smoking maybe 15 blunts a day, wake up in the mornings, get high. It truly ruled my life.”

Cudi, who just dropped his new album Free, says that he’s drastically cut back and re-examined his relationship with weed. 

"And now I just get after it at night or on the weekends when I have the free time and I'm just relaxing, but I'm not smoking nowhere near as much weed as I was smoking before," he says. "A joint lasts me all day, damn near. So my relationship has changed with that in a major way. And I'm just more interested in being sober a lot more and being more present."

In particular, Cudi says that cutting back on marijuana consumption has affected his acting. He explained that his performances are more authentic and he can tap into the emotion of a scene better with a clearer head.

“Granted, it's not like it hinders me in any type of way because I was smoking so much that I wasn't really getting high,” he shared. “So people have seen me act for years and they love my acting. They love the stuff I've done, but it's just something different when you're on set and you're sober and you can feel the emotions.” 

“Because in this movie, I cried a handful of times and it was easy to get there because I was sober."

"There's no way I could have done this if I was high as s---."

Cudi also shared what he wants the public to take away from his story.

"I hope it gives [fans] some hope that you do come out on the other side and into the light and God puts us through things because he wants to teach us something. It’s always a lesson in there, always. Even if it doesn't seem like it could be possible, because in the moment, everything just seems like all is lost, you know what I mean? But if you really think about it, everything happens for a reason."