Producer for artists from Lil Wayne to Paris Hilton says he's coming back after three years of cocaine addiction.
By Shaheem Reid

Scott Storch
Photo: MTV News

Scott Storch isn't dead. He's not in jail. The famed producer isn't even on the run from the police, as you may have heard through the grapevine over the past year. Storch has been focusing on rebuilding his life, because he did, in fact, hit rock bottom.

Lost in a three-year cocaine-abusing haze, he lost more money than most people reading this story will see in five lifetimes: $30 million. Yes, he blew almost his entire fortune on coke, cars, houses, lavish trips, partying and a series of what he calls "poor judgment decisions." Earlier this month, Storch was arrested for grand theft auto for allegedly failing to return a Bentley he'd leased in 2006. And last year, Storch hit legal trouble after reportedly falling behind on both his child-support payments and his property taxes.

But he has come out of his white-powder fog. The producer says he is in recovery, and, as people who love his music will be elated to hear, he's back making music. On Wednesday night, MTV News caught up with the Grammy winner, who at one time could do no wrong in the studio as he supplied classic beats, not mere hits, for people like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Fat Joe and Beyoncé.

"I'm taking it back to square one," he said, sitting in a Miami studio. The boards in the factory displayed his name and his publishing company, Tuff Jew.

"I found myself slipping a little bit," he said with a very anxious look on his face. "I got involved in doing drugs. I had to get myself into recovery. Being in the life that I was living — very fast-moving, option to do anything you want, go anywhere you wanna go — it definitely takes its toll on you, and you lose your concept of reality. I had to get it under control. I had to take it back to the beginning and back to the Hit Factory, where I made a lot of my hits."

Storch is currently living in a three-quarter house, where he is supervised by a live-in counselor but allowed to go to work in the studio as long as he's back by curfew.

"Just taking it day by day," the producer said of his life now. "I haven't won the war. It's not like something you can just fix and it's just gone. Addiction is a disease, and I have to constantly battle it. I feel so much better and have more clarity, especially in the studio. It's cool. It's been a really productive period. ... With the help of my publisher TVT, I've had the chance to woodshed and come up with a whole new vibe. I'm very happy right now."

MTV News will have a lot more of our exclusive interview with Scott Storch in the coming days and weeks.

• Scott Storch: 'I'm Taking It Back To Square One

• Scott Storch