Darryl 'DMC' McDaniels opens up about sobriety journey: 'All I need to do is be happy with who I am'

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels has been sober since 2004, and he's open about what contributed to his past substance abuse. In an interview with People, the Run-DMC member says the pressure of maintaining the group's success played a major role.

"All of these things start building up. You say, 'I got to do this, because I don't want Run and [Jam Master] Jay to be mad at me. I don't want the label to be mad at me.' You start thinking about everybody else's needs instead of your own needs," DMC says.

After therapy and rehab, he came to a realization. "I don't need none of that s***," he says. "All I need to do is be happy with who I am."

DMC says the music industry's party culture was also a trigger.

"At the time, if you listened to hip-hop and rock records, drinking and smoking and having sex and just acting like a God damned fool, it's the thing you're supposed to be doing," he says. "So a lot of people don't know no better. So they get thrust in the hole."

Part of DMC's journey to sobriety was realizing that some successful people didn't engage in those behaviors. He recalls the moment he learned Public Enemy's Chuck D never got high.

"When Chuck said, 'I never got high a goddamn day in my life,' I went back to my room and I sat there, and I said this to myself, 'So why the hell does he rhyme so deaf?'" DMC says. "What he said that day, a young man, confidently with a God force, 'I never got high a God damn day,' made me say, 'S***, I never had to do that.'"

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