Kid Cudi revealed that it wasn't just his struggles with drugs and depression that forced him to temporarily step away from music a few years ago, but also a stroke that left him with impaired speech and movement.

The musician, whose real name is Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi, said in a new interview with Esquire that about two weeks after being admitted to rehab in 2016 for “depression and suicidal urges” he suffered a stroke, telling the outlet, “everything was fucked.” The incident forced him to put his music on pause and spend the next few months in physical rehabilitation. But Cudi says that he didn't feel completely like himself again until he auditioned for a role in the Broadway show Lobby Hero opposite Michael Cera in 2017. In order to audition, he had to memorize a substantial amount of dialogue and, although the part ended up going to another actor, he said, “I proved to myself that I could do it. I needed that at the time. I was happy. Like, damn, my brain is still strong. I didn’t lose something in that shit that happened.”

Cudi's mom Elsie Harriet also spoke to the magazine about that harrowing experience and working with her son to get him back to a mentally and physically healthier place. “The hardest thing I have ever had to do was to wait until they were ready for him to call me,” she said. When they finally did call, she flew out and visited Cudi daily, praying with him as he recovered. She added, “It was the best thing that could have happened to Scott. It was. There is no saying, ‘My child won’t do this. My child won’t do that.’ If you’re a parent, you can’t say that. You don’t know what they’re going to do from moment to moment, and certainly, when you get to the point where your career blew up overnight, it’s a very difficult thing.” Since then, Cudi has taken pride in being a mental health advocate for others who are struggling. When asked if he ever gets tired of the role, he told the magazine, “It’s a lot of pressure, but it keeps me alive. So I’ll take it. It doesn’t stress me out. It keeps me thinking, Nah, Scott. You gotta be here. Let old age take you out.”

In A Man Named Scott, the Amazon Prime documentary released about his life last year, the singer said that things began to change for him in regards to his addiction around 2010 after he was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and possession of a controlled substance. He explained, “I remember I got out of jail, and I was ashamed because I grew up with two uncles that were addicted to crack. But I’m glad I got arrested, because that’s when I quit. I don’t think I woulda quit if people didn’t find out about it.” And after finally facing his “bullshit” in rehab, Cudi added, “I’m in such a happier place…And knowing that I’m at a better place with me, with Scott, that I love myself, that I’m happy, I just hope fans can see that.”