Erick Sermon Talks Heart Attack Scare, Embarking on Healthy Lifestyle

It appears that rap icon Erick Sermon is on the mend after suffering a mild heart attack last week. The EPMD rapper called into Shade 45's Sway in the Morning on Tuesday (Nov. 15) and gave his recollection of how he almost suffered a near stroke.

According to the Green-Eyed Bandit, while he was in his home studio making beats, he experienced sharp pains on his left-hand side but shrugged it off. The next afternoon he experienced the same pains again and knew he had to go to the hospital.

"As soon as I hit the door, my whole left side cramped up on me," Sermon recalls. "The heart palpitations were going really fast, and I started getting the pains again." Thankfully, he arrived just in time or he would have suffered a stroke in the emergency room. "I could have dropped right there," he told Sway.

Doctors later revealed to Sermon that his blood pressure was 200/190, which is extremely high for the average person. "If I didn't make it there in time, I would have suffered a stroke first, then I would have been in trouble," he said. "They did all these tests and figured out that the heart attack was a mild one."

The 42-year-old veteran producer also underwent a test in which they inserted a camera into his main thigh artery to take pictures of his heart. Thankfully, the test results showed no blockages or major problems. Sermon is still recovering at the hospital and is undergoing more tests to make sure his heart is functioning properly. He is expected to be release before the end of the week.

Sermon, who is currently tipping the scale at 285 pounds, vows to get on a strict diet to shed at least 30 pounds. "I don't want to be small, but I know I want to take off that weight to begin with," he said. "When you take it off, that helps a lot, too, but also you have to watch that [unhealthy] food. I know it sounds crazy, but that food is a killer."

Listen to Erick Sermon's Interview